Dominion Energy has submitted applications to the State Corporation Commission to increase base and fuel rates for its Virginia customers.
The company requested base rate increases of $8.51 per month in 2026 and $2 per month in 2027 for the typical residential customer.
If approved, the new fuel rate would take effect July 1, 2025, and the new base rates would take effect Jan. 1, 2026, and Jan. 1, 2027, and would be the company’s first increase in base rates since 1992.
“We know our customers are feeling the impact of inflation in other areas of their lives, and some of our customers may need assistance with their power bills. We’re here to help,” President of Utility Operations Ed Baine stated. “Our Energy Share program not only offers among the most supportive bill assistance in the country, but also provides free home energy efficiency upgrades to help lower your energy use and save on your monthly bills.”
The average monthly bill for a typical residential customer at Dominion is $140. After the fuel rate increase on July 1, that is expected to increase to $150.92. After the base rate increase on Jan. 1, 2026, that will increase to $159.43 and after the base rate increase on Jan. 1, 2027, that is expected to increase to $161.43.
“The fuel rate increase is driven by four factors: 1) higher PJM power capacity costs; 2) higher forecasted fuel commodity prices; 3) higher fuel costs from extreme cold in January 2025; and 4) the scheduled expiration of a $3.99 monthly fuel credit,” Dominion Director of Virginia and Offshore Wind Media told Loudoun Now in an email.
The base rate is driven by two factors, he said. The first is the increasing cost of labor, materials and equipment, while the second is the need for new infrastructure to serve the growing number of customers, including data centers.
The company also proposed a new rate class for high energy users, including data centers, as well as new consumer protections to ensure these customers continue to pay the full cost of their service and other customers are protected from stranded costs.
Under the proposal, high energy users would be required to make a 14-year commitment to pay for their requested power, even if they use less, according to the announcement.
Dominion is also proposing to move power capacity costs from the base rate to the annual fuel rate. These power capacity costs are set by PJM, the regional electric grid operator, and assigned to Dominion Energy Virginia.
The Piedmont Environmental Council released a statement following Dominion’s announcement reiterating its past concerns about the data center industry’s impact on residential user rates.
“Dominion Energy’s recent announcement about increasing rates and new rate classification is a tacit acknowledgement of the unique impact high energy users like data centers place on the system,” according to the announcement.
In the announcement PEC President Chris Miller urges the SCC to take action to protect users.
“The SCC has the opportunity to take action now - and ensure data centers won’t overwhelm the power grid, drain statewide water resources and further intrude on areas never meant to be industrialized,” he stated.
The SCC is expected to release a review schedule for Dominion’s request in the coming weeks. Typically, the determination process takes nine months.
A report published last December by the state Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission, found that data centers are currently paying their full cost of service, but as their power demand increases, that could change.
"A large amount of new generation and transmission will need to be built that would not otherwise be built, creating fixed costs that utilities will need to recover. It will be difficult to supply enough energy to keep pace with growing data center demand, so energy prices are likely to increase for all customers," according to the report.
The report said establishing a separate rate class for data centers, as well as changing costs allocations and adjusting utility rates more frequently could help insulate non-data center customers from statewide cost increases.
(6) comments
I guess stop if you don’t understand that our budget wouldn’t be so high without the data centers the BeOS has upped her spending because they because if you don’t have it to spend, you have to concentrate on the basics but with all this extra cash, they’re wasting it on there for frivolous projects
As for her electric rates, not only do the rates go up, but the taxes we pay on our utilities go up
They can talk all the way around it but the reason for the rate hikes are the data centers. We can thank Rizer and Randall for these additional energy costs.
I've never had a $140 bill. My property taxes will go up this year (despite what the BOS says) and now my electric bill will go up. The data centers were supposed to lower our tax rates. But, no, and we get to pay higher electric rates, too.
Say what you will about the data centers, but without them your taxes would be even more ridiculous than they are now. Data centers pay a lot of taxes.
The first of MANY rate increases to pay for the plague we call "Data Centers." Loudoun tax payers will shoulder the burden of feeding these centers.
Buckle up 'cause this is just the beginning.
Love those data centers. This is just the start of what we'll be paying to enjoy running data centers for the rest of the US
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