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Virginia Data Center Intel
Latest data center news, projects, power and policy across Virginia — updated daily.
Virginia · Construction & power moves · 40
full tracker →Land, power, and interconnection moves across Virginia — each traced to primary filings.
Top JUST IN — Virginia
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PJM proposes reliability standards for large-load ride-through (no docket)
Source: PJM Inside Lines · Sep 10, 2026PJM Inside Lines reports that PJM has proposed new interconnection reliability requirements for large loads, including data centers and crypto-mining facilities, to require facilities to stay connected during grid disturbances and “riding through” voltage and frequency excursions. The article says the proposal responds to a June 18 FERC order and that “PJM plans to file proposed solutions to FERC in November.”
Backed by 1 primary filing — sign in or book a call to see all sources.
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PJM, Dominion Review Large Load Transfer Event
Source: PJM Inside Lines · Aug 11, 2026PJM Inside Lines reports that PJM is reviewing changes to interconnection reliability requirements for Large Loads after a July 22 event in Virginia in which “nearly 4,000 MW of data center load trip offline unexpectedly.” The article also says FERC ordered NERC to create enforceable Reliability Standards for computational loads and that the first phase of new enforcement provisions is due Dec. 31, 2026.
Backed by 1 primary filing — sign in or book a call to see all sources.
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Opening Statement of Commissioner Christie to House Subcommittee on Energy, Climate, and Grid Security
Source: FERCFERC Commissioner Christie warned that U.S. grid reliability faces “potentially catastrophic consequences” as “unprecedented forecasts for demand increases” from “data centers, including Artificial Intelligence (AI)” collide with fast-retiring dispatchable generation and policy pressure. In PJM, he said, “PJM faces unprecedented load growth due to the proliferation of data centers,” while also noting that EPA power-plant rules could “forcibly” accelerate coal retirements and make new gas generation “extremely difficult, if not virtually impossible” to build. Christie also said the PJM interconnection queue “largely consists of intermittent generation, primarily wind and solar,” and that legal challenges are delaying needed natural-gas pipeline infrastructure.
Backed by 1 primary filing — sign in or book a call to see all sources.
Recent Virginia data center news
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Beyond the Demand Forecast: Six Questions About Powering Data Centers From DPX 2026
POWER magazine has published a conference-based analysis of DPX 2026, highlighting the main questions discussed about building power infrastructure for data centers and AI load growth.
- The article summarizes remarks from Peter Lake, Jehmal T. Hudson, Alexander Hubbard, Matthew Gardner, Nelli Babayan, and Jason Reagan rather than announcing a single new project.
- It includes concrete policy and market details such as Virginia’s GS-5 rate class effective Jan. 1, 2027, Berkeley Lab’s 192 TWh to 649 TWh U.S. data center electricity forecast, and GE Vernova’s planned turbine output ramp to 20 GW in Q4 2026, 24 GW by 2028, and 30 GW by 2030.
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Community Farm at Roundabout Meadows Agrivoltaics Project wins North American Solar Farm of the Year award
The Piedmont Environmental Council has announced that its Community Farm at Roundabout Meadows is a co-recipient of the Solar Farm of the Year award. - The award is part of the annual North American Agrivoltaics Awards and will be presented on October 27 at Solar Farm House in Chicago.
- The project is described as Virginia’s first crop-farming agrivoltaics project; it uses 42 solar panels on a quarter-acre portion of an 8-acre farm, generating about 130% of the farm’s electricity needs with a backup battery system for full energy independence.
- PEC says the project launched in October 2025 and has hosted tours and workshops; the article also says Virginia’s grid may need to double or triple in the next 15 years due to data center-driven demand.
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Climate Change Solutions - October 6, 2026
EESI has published a climate and energy newsletter summarizing recent congressional action, upcoming briefings, and related resources.
- Senators Shelley Moore Capito, Sheldon Whitehouse, Mike Lee, and Martin Heinrich introduced the Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act of 2026 (S.5653), a permitting package focused on transmission, grid capacity, and data center energy costs.
- The newsletter also notes the Hydropower Licensing Transparency Act becoming law, the Modernizing Access to Our Public Oceans Act being signed, the Senate advancing the Agricultural Act of 2026, and an upcoming Oct. 7, 1:00-2:30 p.m. EDT online briefing on interregional transmission co-hosted with WRI.
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Getting It Right Together: The State Regulatory Lens on America’s Large-Load Future
Judge Jehmal T. Hudson argues for a more disciplined regulatory framework to manage large-load and data center growth, emphasizing system-level planning, financial commitments, and ratepayer protections.
- He says regulators should move from project-by-project reaction to system-level strategy, using better information on site control, permits, financing, timing, and load certainty before infrastructure is built.
- He cites Virginia as an example: the Virginia State Corporation Commission approved a new GS-5 rate class for Dominion Energy Virginia customers effective January 1, 2027, with demand thresholds of 25 MW or greater and stronger financial obligations, including 85% of contracted distribution and transmission demand and 60% of generation demand for certain customers; he also references mandatory contributions in aid of construction for some transmission facilities.
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Von Neumann’s party
Nature has published a science-fiction short story in which an unnamed narrator is repeatedly asked, “Were you at von Neumann’s party?”
- The story is a fictional narrative set in Princeton and references John von Neumann, Institute for Advanced Studies, IBM, and a hall of servers in a data centre-like room.
- It is not a real-world announcement or deal; the piece is literary commentary/fiction, with no commitments, prices, or project details disclosed.
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Governor’s Data Center Accountability Framework Doesn’t Go Far Enough – It’s Time for a Pause
The Piedmont Environmental Council has issued an email alert urging Virginia to impose a statewide moratorium on new data center development and to convene a special legislative session.
- The alert says Governor Spanberger released a Data Center Accountability Framework and signed Executive Order 22 on Sept. 18, but argues the measures are insufficient and do not immediately stop new data center approvals or grid connections.
- It cites a 53.8 gigawatt pipeline in energy service contracts held by Dominion Energy, references proposed transmission lines, backup generation, onsite gas turbines, and mentions the March for a Moratorium events in Culpeper and Leesburg.
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Building the Grid, Building Communities: Transmission Investment, Affordability, and Accountability in the Southeast
Troutman Pepper Locke attorneys Josh Combs and Andy Flavin discussed transmission investment, affordability, and accountability in the Southeast, with a focus on Virginia’s data center corridor and local responses to data center growth.
- The speakers described how utilities and regulators can require community engagement, local investment, and other tangible benefits from large customers while balancing customer bills, affordability, and economic development.
- They said Virginia had not enacted a severe state-level moratorium or repeal of data center incentives in the 2026 General Assembly session, but Loudoun County was discussing a possible local moratorium on data center permitting; they also noted Virginia localities generally retain siting authority over substations but not transmission lines.
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Board to Vote on Proposed Comprehensive Plan Amendment Limiting Transmission Line Impacts in Culpeper
PEC has announced a local advocacy push around Culpeper County’s proposed Comprehensive Plan amendment to limit the impacts of transmission lines serving data centers. - The Culpeper Board of Supervisors is scheduled to take a final vote on Tuesday, Oct. 6 at the County Administration Building, 302 N. Main St., Culpeper, VA, on an amendment first proposed in June after the Valley Link 765-kV transmission line project. - The amendment is intended to shape State Corporation Commission (SCC) review of transmission projects; Dominion plans to file the Joshua Falls-Yeat project with the SCC in November. The email also promotes a March for a Moratorium event on Sunday, Oct. 11, 1–3 p.m. at the Culpeper LOVE sign, and cites additional rallies in Leesburg on Saturday, Oct. 17 and Richmond on Saturday, Oct. 24.
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Press Release: Virginia Needs To Take a Whole-of-Government Approach to Planning For Electricity Shortfalls
The Piedmont Environmental Council and 50 other organizations have submitted a letter urging the Virginia State Corporation Commission to broaden its model tariff process for connecting new data centers to the grid.
- The letter asks the SCC to include state agencies, local governments, and environmental stakeholders in developing curtailment procedures, including the Va. Department of Environmental Quality, State Air Pollution Control Board, Virginia Council on Environmental Justice, and the Attorney General’s Division of Consumer Counsel.
- The groups warn that, starting as early as 2027, PJM forecasts insufficient generation to safely serve new data center demand, which could increase use of utility-scale backup generators emitting PM2.5 and NOx.
- Media contact listed: Mike Doble, The Piedmont Environmental Council, mdoble@pecva.org, 703-579-7963.
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Maryland Joins Virginia in Tightening Data Center Rules With New Accountability Framework
Maryland Gov. Wes Moore has announced a statewide review process and public dashboard for large data center projects through an executive order signed last week.
- The order creates a statewide review process and public dashboard for large data center projects in Maryland.
- The article says Maryland is joining Virginia in a regional push to rein in the rapid expansion of AI-era server farms; it also frames the piece as commentary on state oversight responding to concerns about noise and high energy bills.