Virginia is tightening the rules around very large data centers.
On September 18, 2026, Governor Abigail Spanberger announced a new Data Center Accountability Framework covering local approvals, electricity costs, environmental standards, backup generation and grid reliability.
One number appears repeatedly in Virginia’s changing approach:
25 megawatts.
Under one part of the governor’s proposed framework, data centers using more than 25 MW would no longer be able to rely on automatic “by-right” local approval and would instead require local approval.
Separately, Virginia’s State Corporation Commission has already approved a new electricity rate class beginning January 1, 2027 for certain customers with demand of 25 MW or more.
These are different rules, but together they show how Virginia is beginning to treat hyperscale data centers as a separate category of electrical load.
Why Does 25 MW Matter?
October 23, 2026 status check — approved rate vs proposed permitting: Virginia SCC has already approved Dominion Energy Virginia’s GS-5 electricity rate class for qualifying customers with demand of at least 25 MW, but the rate class takes effect January 1, 2027. Separately, the governor’s September 18 accountability framework proposes requiring local approval for data centers using more than 25 MW instead of automatic by-right approval; this specific proposed permitting change is not yet a blanket statewide rule. The two 25 MW thresholds have different legal purposes. For the approved tariff and grid-cost details, see our Dominion Energy Virginia data center power and GS-5 analysis.
Twenty-five megawatts is already a very large electrical load.
A data center at that level can require significant utility infrastructure, including transformers, substations, transmission capacity and protection systems.
Modern hyperscale projects can be much larger.
That means the issue is not simply how much electricity the building consumes each year. Utilities also need enough physical infrastructure to deliver that power reliably at one location.
Virginia has already recognized this through its utility rate structure.
The State Corporation Commission approved a new GS-5 rate class for customers with a measured or contracted demand of at least 25 MW on a contiguous site and a load factor of at least 75%.
The rate class becomes effective on January 1, 2027.
Although many qualifying customers will be data centers, the SCC has made clear that GS-5 is not technically a “data-center-only” class. Other large industrial or technology customers can qualify if they meet the same demand and load-factor requirements.
Virginia Already Changed How Large Loads Pay for Electricity
The 25 MW threshold is not only about permitting.
Virginia regulators have already changed how large electricity users will pay for utility infrastructure.
Under the approved GS-5 structure, qualifying large-load customers will generally have to pay at least 85% of their contracted transmission and distribution demand, even if actual electricity use is lower.
For generation demand, the minimum is 60%.
The SCC also approved long-term service obligations and collateral requirements intended to reduce the risk that utilities build expensive infrastructure for projects that later reduce their load or fail to develop as expected.
This matters because large data centers can require substantial grid investment before they consume their first kilowatt-hour.
If a project is delayed after new substations or transmission upgrades have already been built, regulators have to decide who carries those costs.
Virginia’s approach is designed to place more of that financial risk on the large-load customer rather than other electricity users.
👉 This is part of the same national debate covered in [AI Data Center Power Consumption in the U.S.], where rapidly growing computing loads are changing utility planning.
The New Framework Adds Another Layer
The September 18 Data Center Accountability Framework goes beyond the existing SCC rate rules.
The governor’s office says the plan would eliminate by-right approval for data centers using more than 25 MW, requiring local approval instead.
The framework also calls for stronger community involvement, restrictions on nondisclosure agreements, tighter environmental standards and changes to how grid-related costs are assigned.
There is an important distinction here.
Not every item in the framework became law on September 18.
Executive Order 22 immediately directs executive agencies to take several actions, including restricting nondisclosure agreements within the executive branch, accelerating data-center noise regulations and reviewing diesel and other backup-generation practices.
Other parts of the framework — including some of the local-approval requirements — are intended to be pursued through legislation in the 2027 Virginia General Assembly session.
So a headline saying “Virginia now requires local permits for every 25 MW data center” would be too broad.
The policy direction is clear, but parts of the framework still require legislative action.
The Grid Reliability Rules May Be Just as Important
The new framework also focuses on how large data centers behave electrically.
Virginia wants standards designed to prevent sudden changes in data-center electricity demand from destabilizing the grid.
That matters because a large computational load can change much faster than a traditional industrial facility.
If a voltage disturbance causes several large facilities to suddenly disconnect or transfer load to batteries and backup systems, hundreds or thousands of megawatts can disappear from grid demand within a short period.
Grid operators then have to rebalance generation and load.
The framework therefore calls for reliability standards addressing sudden demand changes, while also considering cleaner backup generation and limits on behind-the-meter natural-gas generation.
That puts data centers in an unusual position.
They are not only very large electricity consumers.
Their operating behavior is becoming relevant to transmission-system reliability.
Who Pays for New Transmission and Generation?
Virginia is also moving toward stronger cost-causation rules.
The governor’s framework calls for utilities to allocate a greater share of transmission and generation costs to data centers and other large-load customers when those costs are associated with their growth.
It also calls for stronger upfront financial commitments from developers and for costs created through PJM processes related to data-center-driven demand growth to be allocated more directly to those customers.
This is similar to debates already taking place in Pennsylvania, Michigan and Congress.
The basic issue is straightforward.
If a new 500 MW campus creates the need for a transmission upgrade, regulators need to determine how much of that project exists specifically because of the new customer and how much benefits the wider grid.
That answer determines who eventually pays.
Local Approval Could Affect Where Projects Are Built
The proposed permitting change may also influence site selection.
A data center that previously qualified for by-right development could face additional local review if its power demand exceeds 25 MW.
Local officials could then examine issues such as land use, nearby communities, water requirements, noise and infrastructure before approving the project.
That could increase development time for some projects.
It could also encourage developers to select sites where communities and utilities are better prepared for large electrical loads.
The final effect will depend on what the General Assembly actually adopts in 2027.
What This Means for Virginia’s Power Grid
From an electrical perspective, Virginia appears to be moving toward a system where large data centers are treated less like ordinary commercial customers and more like major pieces of grid infrastructure.
That makes sense when individual facilities can require tens or hundreds of megawatts.
At that scale, the utility has to consider:
- transmission capacity,
- substation capacity,
- generation availability,
- protection and control behavior,
- backup generation,
- long-term financial commitments,
- and the possibility that the project does not develop exactly as forecast.
The SCC’s GS-5 rate class addresses the financial side.
The new accountability framework adds local approval, environmental and reliability questions.
My View From the Electrical Construction Side
From an electrical construction perspective, the 25 MW threshold is useful because it shows how quickly the scale changes.
A large data center is not just another building connected to a distribution feeder.
At these power levels, the project can affect utility substations, transmission planning, transformer procurement, protection systems and generation requirements.
That means the electrical connection itself becomes part of the development decision.
Virginia’s policy changes reflect that reality.
The state is trying to connect the physical infrastructure required by large loads with clearer rules about permitting, reliability and cost responsibility.
Final Thoughts
Virginia’s 25 MW threshold now matters in more than one part of the state’s data-center policy.
The SCC has already approved a GS-5 electricity rate class for qualifying 25 MW+ high-load-factor customers beginning January 1, 2027.
The September 2026 Data Center Accountability Framework goes further by proposing stronger local approval requirements for data centers above 25 MW, tighter cost-allocation rules and new reliability standards.
Some measures are already moving forward through executive action, while others still require legislation.
For the grid, the direction is clear: Virginia is increasingly treating very large data centers as major electrical loads that need their own rules for cost, reliability and infrastructure planning.
Sources & Official References
This article was researched using official Virginia government and State Corporation Commission materials covering the September 2026 Data Center Accountability Framework and Virginia’s existing large-load electricity rules.
Office of the Governor of Virginia — Data Center Accountability Framework Announcement, September 18, 2026
https://www.governor.virginia.gov/newsroom/news-releases/2026/september-releases/name-1123696-en.html
Office of the Governor of Virginia — Executive Order 22
https://www.governor.virginia.gov/executive-actions/
Virginia State Corporation Commission — GS-5 Large-Load Rate Class Announcement
https://www.scc.virginia.gov/about-the-scc/newsreleases/release/scc-issues-order-on-dev-biennial-review-2025/scc-rules-in-dev-biennial-review-case.html
Virginia State Corporation Commission — Data Center Q&A and Large-Load Protections
https://www.scc.virginia.gov/about-the-scc/scc-facts/
Virginia State Corporation Commission — Final Order Establishing GS-5 Rate Schedule
https://www.scc.virginia.gov/docketsearch/DOCS/89g601%21.PDF
Sources checked September 21, 2026.
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