Gov. Abigail Spanberger released Virginia’s 2026 Energy Plan on Thursday, outlining several potential paths for meeting growing electricity demand while maintaining reliability, controlling costs and moving toward a net-zero power system.
The plan does not prescribe a single fuel source, technology or forecast for future demand. Instead, the administration said energy-system modeling was used to evaluate different levels of growth and policy approaches and their potential costs and tradeoffs.
The plan calls for accelerating lower-cost and faster-to-deploy energy resources, addressing the effects of data center growth, aligning utility incentives with energy affordability and developing resources capable of providing power when intermittent sources are unavailable.
It also calls for reducing emissions associated with natural gas infrastructure, expanding clean transportation and developing Virginia’s energy workforce and supply chain.
“Virginians have been clear about what they need from their energy system,” Spanberger said. “Energy should be reliable, with enough power to support Virginia’s growth. It should be clean and built in a way that protects the health of our communities and the natural resources around us. It should be local, so the jobs and benefits of our energy growth stay here in Virginia. And it must be affordable.”
The administration said development of the plan included more than 3,000 public survey responses, six regional meetings, a public town hall and 20 industry-specific listening sessions.
For the first time in development of a Virginia Energy Plan, according to the administration, that public input was paired with energy-system modeling and analysis designed to examine different demand scenarios and policy choices.
The modeling found multiple potential pathways for Virginia to reach a net-zero power system by 2050 while maintaining reliable and affordable electricity, according to the administration.
Chief Energy Officer Josephus Allmond described the approach as “Clean-First, Least-Cost.”
“As we build the energy system to support the growth we are anticipating, cleaner air and healthier communities will be part of how we measure success,” Allmond said.
Data centers are among the sources of growing electricity demand addressed in the plan. The administration said one of its goals is ensuring future data center development advances the state’s broader energy objectives.
The plan follows several data center-related measures approved earlier this year, including an energy consumption tax on data centers and additional requirements involving backup generators and water use.
Spanberger also urged the State Corporation Commission to require data centers to pay for transmission infrastructure constructed exclusively for their operations, according to the administration.
The Energy Plan itself does not establish utility rates or approve individual energy projects. Rather, it is intended to guide energy policy, investment and coordination as individual decisions move through legislative, regulatory and local government processes.
Virginia updates its Energy Plan every four years as required by state law.
“This plan sets a vision for building the innovative energy infrastructure and skilled workforce Virginia’s economic growth will require, while preserving the flexibility to respond as demand, technology, and investment change,” Secretary of Commerce and Trade Carrie Chenery said.
