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Utilities tell subcommittee long‑term contracts, deposits and curtailment protect ratepayers from speculative data‑center costs

Senate Judiciary Subcommittee · March 17, 2026
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Summary

Dominion, Duke, Santee Cooper and electric cooperatives told the subcommittee they use long‑term contracts, upfront deposits and curtailment windows to prevent speculative developers from imposing generation and transmission costs on existing customers.

Representatives from Dominion Energy, Duke Energy, Santee Cooper and the Electric Cooperatives explained to the subcommittee how utility practice and tariff tools reduce the risk that data‑center development will shift infrastructure costs to residential and small‑business ratepayers.

Jonathan Yarbrough of Dominion described contractual safeguards Dominion uses for large customers: long‑term service agreements, minimum billing requirements and termination fees. "We require long term contracts... In our case, it was 14 years," Yarbrough said, adding that minimum billing and termination penalties are designed to ensure…

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