Progress Requires Public Power!
Virginia did not become the world’s data center capital overnight. Northern Virginia’s rise began with federal-era fiber investments, the establishment of the MAE-East internet hub in the 1990s, and the arrival of companies such as AOL in Loudoun County. In 2000, a local zoning determination treated data centers like office parks, opening the door to years of largely “by-right” development. By 2008, Loudoun had branded itself Data Center Alley, while Virginia created tax incentives that accelerated corporate growth.
That history matters because today’s scale is different. What began as a promising economic development strategy has become an industry with enormous demands for land, transmission infrastructure, water, and electricity. Loudoun has roughly 250 built data centers and more than 100 in development, according to a county strategy document.
Data centers have created jobs and generated local tax revenue. But a progressive vision of growth must ask harder questions: are communities consulted before major facilities and transmission lines reshape their neighborhoods? Are families protected from higher electric bills? Are we requiring responsible water use and cleaner energy production?
Those questions become even more urgent in light of the proposed merger between Dominion Energy and NextEra Energy. Dominion is not merely another company; it is a state regulated utility that sells about 60% of the electricity in the Commonwealth. Its decisions affect whether a family can afford summer air conditioning, or whether a small business can keep its doors open. In the context of exploding data center demand, the merger could further concentrate authority over infrastructure that will be part of our economic and environmental future.
NextEra’s history underscores why independent regulators and the public must look closely. In 2016, NextEra sought to acquire Hawaiian Electric Industries, but Hawaii’s Public Utilities Commission rejected the $4.3 billion proposal after finding that the companies had not demonstrated sufficient public benefits or an adequate commitment to the state’s clean energy goals.
NextEra also pursued the acquisition of Oncor in Texas. The Public Utility Commission of Texas rejected that proposal in 2017, finding it was not in the public interest. Regulators cited risks to ratepayers, including concerns about the utility’s independence and weakened financial protections that were meant to insulate customers from the parent company’s risks.
Virginia should learn from those experiences. Any merger must prove, not merely promise, that it will benefit ratepayers, preserve strong independent oversight, advance a just clean energy transition, and put the public interest before corporate balance sheets.
Virginia can choose a better path. We can continue to demand that corporations pay their fair share, as the Virginia Senate did when we insisted that data centers pay theirs, leading to the nation’s first Data Center Electricity Consumption Tax. We can also insist that mergers face a rigorous public interest review, and that the voice of the people be heard in that process. The State Corporation Commission is undertaking their review now, and I have invited them to attend one of my town hall meetings in Fairfax County.
Progress is not measured simply by how much we build, how much power we generate, or how much data we collect. Economic development should lift communities, not ask them to surrender their quality of life, their natural resources, or their voice.
