Dominion Energy, Virginia’s biggest utility company, has reported that its total data center power capacity under contract has almost doubled compared to July 2024.
In its Q4 earnings call, the utility said it has approximately 40GW in various stages of contracting as of December 2024. This compares to 21GW in July 2024, an 88 percent increase.
“What’s undeniable is that data center growth in Virginia is not slowing down. In fact, it’s accelerating, and we’re taking every step to meet this opportunity,” said Robert Blue, CEO of Dominion, reflecting on the growth.
As a result, the utility said it expects to spend $50.1 billion from 2025 to 2029, an increase from its previous estimate of $43.2bn. The new capital forecast is 16 percent higher than its prior guidance.
The contracts are broken into three stages: substation engineering letters of authorization, construction letters of authorization, and electrical service agreements.
In the call, the utility revealed that 26GW of demand is within the substation engineering letters of authorization stage. This means a customer has requested the company begin the necessary engineering for the new infrastructure required to serve the customer. In comparison, in July 2024, only 8GW was in that stage, with the Q4 number a 245 percent increase.
In addition, the utility reported it has 9GW in electrical service agreements, an increase of 1GW since July 2024, and 5GW of data center demand that has executed construction letters of authorization.
Much of the growth is constrained within the Northern Virginian market. To support the growth, Dominion is working on two transmission projects, including two new 500kV lines that could facilitate an additional 6GW of capacity in Eastern Loudoun alone.
Dominion also expects expansion out of Loudoun County, “particularly into neighboring counties coming down Interstate 95,” said Blue.
Blue noted that the surge in requests was likely influenced by a system the company implemented in August. This system processes new power requests in batches based on the order of submission.
Last year, Dominion connected 15 new data centers, adding nearly 1GW of capacity. The utility anticipates connecting another 15 data centers this year.
Northern Virginia is home to the world’s largest concentration of data centers, which Dominion serves. This market surpasses the combined size of the next four largest international data center hubs.
To meet the growth in demand, Dominion has outlined an “all of the above” approach to power generation. In its 2024 Integrated Resource Plan (IRP), it announced plans to increase power generation from every source, undertake extensive grid upgrades, and implement energy efficiency programs to maintain grid reliability while meeting unprecedented growth in power demand. The plan's power generation profile is largely derived from carbon-free sources, representing 80 percent of the overall capacity.
Earlier this month, Dominion announced it was on track to deliver its 2.6GW Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project by the end of 2026, which, according to the utility, will play a key role in supporting its approach to power generation and “America’s AI preeminence.”
Before this, it announced that it was adding a further 44MW to its 645MW Possum Point Power Station in Virginia to meet growing data center demand.
