In its most recent earnings call, utility Dominion Energy highlighted the dependability of its service and discussed measures to increase capacity. However, the business, which reported a $42 million loss for the quarter, did not mention how its transmission problems hampered Virginia data center development projects. Chair, Ceo, and President Bob Blue instead emphasized that new data centers are anticipated, which will boost sales. According to Blue, data centers currently account for about 20% of all sales in Virginia and have produced significant sales growth. He cited Amazon Web Services $35 billion buildout plans as evidence that the industry was still expanding.
He pointed out that the Dominion Zone, which encompasses 13 states and the District of Columbia, continues to have the fastest growth rate among all PJM zones and that the regional transmission company PJM just issued its annual prediction of demand increase. According to PJM, the 10-year summer peak load will increase at a five percent yearly pace. This expansion has been accelerating at a never-before-seen pace, principally driven by data center demands. However, he acknowledged that substantial additional capital expenditure would be needed to sustain that development. It would be understandable for critics to claim that the business should have made such investments sooner.
Since the energy provider could not ensure that new facilities would receive electricity through its network of overhead power lines, proposed connections for certain facilities in the East of the County would be put off for years, shocking operators in the world's most densely populated data center region. The corporation claimed to have squeezed out some extra connections by September but cautioned that other data centers would still have delays until 2026.
