Dominion Energy says data centers aren’t raising people’s bills. Energy researchers say they are.

In Virginia, a major hub for data centers, a debate is escalating over who bears the cost of the immense energy demands these facilities impose. Dominion Energy, a primary utility provider, asserts that data centers pay their fair share and that recent increases in residential electricity bills are due to extreme weather and inflation. Utibe Bassey, Dominion's vice president of customer relations, stated that data centers are in a separate rate class, pay more in upfront costs, and will face a new GS-5 rate class starting in 2027 to further protect residential customers. Conversely, energy researchers like Shelby Green of the national Energy and Policy Institute argue that residential customers are effectively subsidizing the new infrastructure required to meet the escalating energy needs of data centers, including a $1.47 billion gas plant in Chesterfield. Dominion itself stated in a filing to the State Corporation Commission (SCC) that this gas plant was necessary to satisfy data center demands, as renewables could not produce the required energy. Kajsa Foskey, director of the Virginia Energy Consumer Alliance, highlights that fuel costs, particularly for volatile natural gas, are 100% passed on to customers. Paige Wesselink, digital strategy manager at the Virginia chapter of the Sierra Club, contends that if not for the increasing number of data centers, the state's energy demand would be flat or decreasing, potentially obviating the need for new gas plants. She argues that data centers are not paying their fair share unless they invest in clean energy that powers their operations without passing costs to consumers. As a result of these concerns, residents across the state have begun opposing new data center developments, and Virginia legislators considered, though did not pass, legislation to make Dominion cover some fuel costs, instead directing the SCC to study risk reduction. Eight data center projects were reportedly scrapped in 2025 due to local resistance.