Two bills seeking to paint a clearer picture of how effectively Virginia's electric grid is used passed the House of Delegates on Monday.
The measures echo one of Gov. Abigail Spanberger's priorities on energy affordability: getting more out of the grid with fewer new transmission projects.
Del. Destiny LeVere Bolling (D–Henrico) wants the State Corporation Commission to set a "grid utilization standard" for Dominion Energy Virginia and Appalachian Power Company, the two largest electric utilities serving the state.
"When it comes to the grid, we've got room to wiggle," LeVere Bolling told VPM News. "It's not being utilized to its fullest extent in each part of the commonwealth."
She said her measure is about keeping ratepayers' bills down while tackling the problem of growing demand.
That demand comes from a range of sources. Energy-hungry facilities like data centers and advanced manufacturing plants drive most of the growth, but a growing population and increased electrification of vehicles and home appliances add demand as well.
LeVere Bolling's bill would require Dominion and APCo to assess the utilization and efficiency of their transmission and distribution systems. Transmission refers to the huge, high-voltage wires and substations that carry electricity over long distances; distribution refers to the street-level power lines and transformers that deliver lower-voltage electricity to homes and most businesses.
Then, state regulators would check the utilities' work and set standards for grid utilization, including the ratio of total grid capacity to total electricity delivered. The SCC would also set a timeline for those standards to be met.
LeVere Bolling's hope is that the utilization standards will help utilities and regulators choose lower-cost projects — whether that's building or upgrading utility-owned power plants where the grid can accommodate them, or taking advantage of more distributed resources like rooftop solar and energy storage.
Del. Lee Ware (R–Amelia) is carrying a similar bill. Instead of ordering the utilities to conduct an assessment, his measure asks the state Department of Energy and the SCC to do the analysis, specifically to identify "cost-saving opportunities" that reduce the need for new projects on undeveloped lands.
"We are facing tremendously increasing demands on the grid," Ware said.
His bill would also ask regulators to investigate whether big electricity users, like data centers, should finance any of the grid upgrades they identify as a condition for faster interconnection with the grid.
Both bills received broad support from ratepayer and renewable energy advocates. Dominion spoke in support of both during committee hearings — but implied it would continue discussing possible changes to the measures.
Data center developers were not as uniform. Google spoke in support of Ware's bill, while the advocacy group Data Center Coalition — along with workers' unions — opposed LeVere Bolling's.
LeVere Bolling didn't rule out further edits to her bill as it continues through the legislative process.
Both her and Ware's bills will be looked at by the Senate in the second half of the legislative session. Senators will have to approve them before Spanberger gets a chance to act.
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