Virginia's Democratic governor has released an energy plan that rejects both calls to weaken the state's clean energy laws and demands for a data center moratorium. Instead, the blueprint argues that the AI boom can be harnessed to pay for a carbon-free grid, with tech companies contributing an estimated $265 billion to utilities through 2050.
The plan, unveiled Oct. 1, uses advanced modeling to show four pathways to net-zero by midcentury under a projected 85% rise in electricity demand. All rely on rapid solar expansion and growth in distributed energy resources like customer-sited batteries. A fifth scenario that abandons clean energy goals would nearly double carbon emissions and impose $145 billion in health impacts, while saving at least $90 billion in system costs — a trade-off Republicans seized on as justification for repeal.
The document lacks the force of law, but it gives regulators and legislators a detailed reference as they weigh new gas plants and data center policies. Environmental groups still want a pause on new data centers, but they welcomed the plan as a sharp contrast to the previous administration's stance. The governor's office called the modeling a first for a state energy plan, showing that the clean energy targets are achievable rather than aspirational.