Yesterday, the Virginia State Corporation Commission gave Dominion a green light to build a new methane gas plant on an existing, closed coal-fired power plant sight adjacent to the James River in Chesterfield County, Virginia.
Regulators did this despite the passage of the Virginia Clean Economy Act which mandates the state-subsidized-energy-monopoly, Dominion Energy, phase out fossil fuel plants by 2050 and halt any new construction of gas power plants.
Wait, what? How is this possible? How can state regulators ignore the law — The answer is Data Centers!
Now I’m confused, I thought we were talking about a gas plant? — I was confused, too, until I started listening to my neighbors’ concerns.
The Virginia Clean Economy Act has a carve-out to allow Dominion to build this dirty, polluting gas plant if it can demonstrate that demand will outpace supply.
And guess who gets to determine if energy supply will meet growing demands? An independent commission? Experts? Come on, this is Virginia, where big business rules. Dominion gets to tell regulators whether they keep up with demand (not so good for the corporate bottom line) or scare lawmakers and state regulators into believing Virginia will have rolling blackouts in the near future (much better way to pad the private coffers). Just another instance of the-sky-is-falling politics here in Virginia.
But the looming “energy crisis” is being driven by the explosive growth of Data Centers in Virginia. And, of course, Dominion isn’t even being honest about energy projections for Data Centers.
Prince William County Data Center — Photo courtesy of Hugh Kenny of The Piedmont Environmental Council
It’s a manufactured crisis — all to meet the demands of AI developers, boost profits for giant tech companies, and raid public resources.
Data Centers need a lot of land, water, and energy — public resources that should be held in the public trust — not given away to private interest. Heck, in Virginia, we’re not just giving away our public resources to the lowest corporate bidder, but we’re often paying corporations to rob us.
Let’s hope Virginia lawmakers can close the loopholes on the Virginia Clean Economy Act. And beware! Data Centers may be on the way to your community. Don’t let public officials fall for the pressure and scare tactics of tech and energy companies.
