Prepare for higher electric bills
Dominion Energy is asking the Virginia State Corporation Commission to approve a 15 percent increase in the base rates for electricity over the next two years.
That would result in an increase of over $20 per month for a typical residential homeowner. A homeowner using 1,000 kilowatt hours of electricity per month could see their monthly bill go from $140.65 to $162.06.
If approved, the rate hike would take effect on Jan. 1, 2026.
The SCC has scheduled a hearing on Sept. 2 to collect feedback from the public.
To submit a comment during the hearing, individuals and organizations must register with the SCC by 5 p.m. on Aug. 26 by filling out an online public witness appearance form. Indicate it’s for case #PUR-2025-00058.
Written comments can also be submitted to the SCC by Aug. 26 online.
Dominion says it needs the increased revenue to cover the costs of infrastructure upgrades, new construction, and fuel costs.
In its application submitted to the SCC in April, Dominion said its “anticipated capital deployment over the next five years exceeds $40 billion,” which is unprecedented in the company’s history. This would be its first increase in base rates since 1992.
Dominion is also proposing a new rate class for high-energy users, such as data centers.
Related story: Residents concerned about Dominion’s substation project
I wonder how much of Dominion Powers anticipated upgrades are based on the anticipated needs for new data centers.
A lot, we can bet.
Why do we have so many data centers in NOVA? They should be subsidizing homeowners if they are taking all the power.
Yeah, I agree. They are consuming all of our power and bringing rates up, they need to start subsidizing the residents nearby as they pollute our waters, air, and increase the amount of toxins we are exposed to.
All these electric companies are just plain greedy . What a shame. People income is not going up . This has to stop now.
These companies are regulated – is it your claim the regulators are greedy?
Yes I solely agree my electric bill was $140 in June , $170 in July, and now in August it’s $237 so seems like they already been approved for that greedy increase…. what a shame because I haven’t gotten a increase in my income they are outright robbing the people.
The reason your bill went up is because of air conditioning.
Electric bill is high enough. People can’t afford a higher electric bill. So please consider leaving it alone. Not raising it.
Electric is to high now How do they expect the elderly that are on a fixed income to pay more.
They are starving now !! OUTRAGEOUS.
I don’t agree with Dominion raising our electric bills. They are high enough as it is. This is not right. We can’t afford our electric bill now. Something should be done..
Thank you Democrats – what’s not in this article is the fact that when the Democrats controlled all three branches they passed a bill mandating all green energy: The VCEA requires Dominion Energy to source 100% of its electricity from renewable sources by 2045 – so – no complaints please from Democrats or those that didn’t vote in 2020. These same progressives are the same people that because they oppose controlling forests – have allowed millions of acres to burn in California (and Canada etc) – that erased any clean air progress made over the past 20 years…
Riiiiigggghhhhhtttt…
Wow, that’s quite a leap from blaming Dems for high energy costs to blaming them for forest fires, most of which are caused by people who are likely NOT Democrats.
Hey Mark – long time no see! How’s the Annandale Blog’s favorite neofascist reactionary doing? Looks like the Summer heat has baked your brain into mush, just like your party’s leader.
LOL
Everyone should fill out the public comments form that is linked to get their opinion heard. My personal thought is that the data center operators and the corporate land owners of those data centers should foot the bill for the expansions needed (whether it is power plants or transmission lines). These data centers use not only huge amounts of power, they use lots of water. They produce lots of pollution and emissions from that usage and at least once if not twice a month, they will produce significantly more local noise and pollution when they test their generators.
This is absurd!! Higher utilities but income is not increasing. Something needs to be done about hikes in our bill. This needs to be reviewed for other alternatives.
I’m on budget billing and in June my Dominion bill was $82.00, in July the budget bill was $100.00. Enough already. Make the data centers pay for upgrades to the grid if they are the ones requiring the upgrades!
I just submitted my objection to the SCC regarding this rate increase. Dom energy is a monopoly, i.e. I have no say so who my power company can be. The SCC is the only hope to prevent this and if more citizens who file with the SCC their objections, maybe the increase won’t happen.
I agree , the multimillion company’s that wants data center should foot the bill not the consumers. The land owners and data centers making out like a fat cat and consumers suffer. Not right, make them pay.
It is a typical human reaction to blame a scapegoat for situations we don’t like, in this case AI Data Centers for rapidly increasing electricity costs.
While Data Centers are likely a factor contributing to the proposed increases in electricity charges, they are not the primary factor.
People seem to want to forget the inconvenient truth that we are facing a global climate change catastrophe, and we need to rapidly make significant and costly changes to our electrical generation and transmission systems.
This includes shutting down coal, oil, and eventually natural gas and dangerous nuclear power plants and replacing them with clean, green, net zero renewable energy sources.
Also, because we need to replace internal combustion vehicles with electric vehicles, we also need to invest significant sums into upgrading and modernizing the electric grid to reliably handle the increase in demand.
People take things for granted, including continuous 24/7/365 always on electricity; and the electric company’s ability to deploy teams to immediately make repairs to return the power back on when catastrophic weather events caused by global climate change or other events cause blackouts.
We take for granted that we are going to win the war against global climate change without any costs or sacrifices on our part. Well, life doesn’t work that way.
Ignorance- there is no climate emergency – and no…you can’t cool the planet – so stop. And win the war on climate change? What an absurd statement -you have zero facts (please don’t say scientists conclude) – you greenies have been predicting the death of the planet for about 50 years…people that think like you are the reason Dominion is raising rates – get a clue – but hey – feel free to put a windmill in your back yard to solve the climate crisis.
Mark telling someone that they have zero facts when he himself has never, ever provided any data to back up any of his brilliant claims/accusations is the good laugh I needed on a Monday morning, thanks Mark!
Let’s not kid ourselves into a false narrative. Dominion Electric is increasing rates because they need to construct substations (at least 5 or 6 by our latest count) to support data centers. Current rate payers pay for all upgrades – end of story, which includes the new substations. We have that many being constructed in Sully District of Fairfax County (FFX) alone. Many more in Loudoun and Prince William County (PWC). All of them need electricity, which means new substations. There are at least 2 or 3 more planned for Sully District in FFX. The BOS (all Dems except 1 – said without making this a political statement) allowed data centers in “by right”, which means if they are compliant with current zoning or that area, they can be built WITHOUT public notice, input, or review. Both Loudoun and PWC require public input and are not by right. PWC has stopped data center in the Rural Cresent (2100 acres of data centers) for now, but the court’s decision will be challenged. Oh, and if your electricity comes from NOVEC and you think you won’t see the increases – NOVEC gets their electricity from Dominion so the costs will be passed to the consumer.
Ditto, Jay!
Rates are already high enough. The electricity company can take a lower profit margin instead of passing yet one more necessary expense off to the consumer.
TLDR:
Dominion says it needs the money to fund its $40–50 billion capital plan over the next five years. On the surface, that kind of investment could be good: modernizing the grid, building out renewable energy, and making the system more reliable. But the reality is that much of this spending is being driven by explosive demand from data centers and large-scale growth, not the needs of everyday families.
At the same time, Dominion is spending huge sums on politics, $650,000 to Attorney General candidate Shannon Taylor and $300,000 to incumbent Jason Miyares. That raises serious concerns about whether these investments are being made in the public interest, or just to protect Dominion’s profits.
The bottom line is this: while grid modernization and clean energy are important, Dominion is shifting the burden onto residents to cover both its political influence and record-breaking expansion plans. Families should not be forced to subsidize Big Tech growth and corporate lobbying while struggling to pay their bills.
Lol. Investments are generally spending now to make money in the future. Who’s gonna make the capitalistic rewards on this deal? Everyone other than us citizens you say?
Who can I blame this on? Who are the people who vote to give to neverendingly give more power to the already powerful?
In July, when the State Corporation Commission approved a new transmission line for the Bren Mar data center on Edsall Road over objections from local residents, SCC Commissioner Bagot wrote about “the ‘800-pound gorilla’ of ‘who pays?’ for new transmission facilities looms large — particularly for those specific participants raising that issue here. I believe the time is ripe for a thorough examination of the prevailing approach to transmission cost allocation. While I do not presume to prejudge what changes, if any, are warranted to ensure fair cost allocation, the escalating impact of transmission costs on customers’ bills needs scrutiny. Given the dynamic nature of projected load growth from large-use data centers, failing to evaluate whether reform is needed runs the risk of unjust and unreasonable outcomes for customers.”
See https://www.scc.virginia.gov/docketsearch/DOCS/877%2301!.PDF.