Virginia News Connection
Demand for energy is soaring because of a surge in data centers, and a new report finds clean energy could meet that load growth more cheaply than fossil fuels.
Researchers at the nonpartisan nonprofit Energy Innovation calculated the cost of building out renewables compared with keeping old coal plants online and building new gas power plants.
Brendan Pierpont, Energy Innovation’s director of electricity, said renewables would reduce costs by about 17%.
“The fossil fuel pathway would add around $30 billion per year to overall national electricity costs,” Pierpont said. “Doing this with clean energy is about $5 billion cheaper.”
Electricity prices jumped 76% in the first quarter compared with last year, according to an analysis of the mid-Atlantic and Midwest regional grid by an independent monitor.
A Pew Center analysis finds Virginia faces the biggest increase in demand for data centers in the nation, with 398 already built and another 287 planned.
Pierpont urged policymakers to fast-track renewables on the grid.
“That more cost-effective pathway involves building solar energy storage and wind and deploying those quicker, having more efficient local siting and permitting processes,” he said.
The Trump administration argues fossil fuels are more reliable and has worked to undermine renewable projects, even paying companies to abandon wind-energy projects.
