Virginia Senate President claims “only near-term reduction in power bills” for 2026 session

VirginiaDemocratsarelookingtoincreasethepowerbillsdatacenterspayanddropthecostsforallotherratepayers.Thebillpassedunanimouslyoutofcommitteeearlierthisweek. Thebilldoesthreethings:increaseanexistingDominionEnergyassistanceprogram,movesmorepowerlinesunderground,and,afterasubstituteagreedtoMondayevening,aimstomakedatacenterspayforexcessenergyuse. Here’sthebillauthor,DemocraticSenatePresidentLouiseLucas,whosaidtheeffortwouldleadto$8.3millioninsavingstostateenergybills,$13millioninsavingsforlocalgovernments,andanaboutthreepercentreductiontoallnon-datacentercustomers. “Therearemorethan200energybillsthissession,andasfarasI’maware,thisistheonlyproposaltoreduceratesinthenearterm,”Lucassaid. JoeReedisalobbyistwhodefendedthechangeonbehalfofDominionEnergy. “It’sashort-termfixtoskyrocketingcapacitypricesandashort-termfixtobringingthesedatacentersonlineandgeneraterevenuewhichwillgeneratelongterm