Google, Virginia policy makers discuss growing data center demand

Leading tech firm Google, which has invested over $4 billion in Virginia and owns three data center campuses in the northern region of the state, co-hosted a private meeting in Richmond Tuesday alongside the state’s energy department to talk about how electric grid investments can meet data centers’ rising energy needs.

Called the Virginia Grid Innovation Summit, Google and Virginia Energy led the summit with speeches from Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin, Virginia Energy Director Glenn Davis, Del. Rip Sullivan, D-Fairfax, and a representative of Dominion Energy, with several energy-related companies and nonprofits in attendance.

According to a spokesperson for Google, the summit was closed to the public to allow attendees to speak in “candor” and “have a more in depth conversation.”

What the summit covered

Tuesday’s summit was the latest gathering of energy industry professionals talking about data center growth in the state. Past events include the Virginia Clean Energy Summit, a Loudoun County Chamber of Commerce event and next week, Sen. Dave Marsden, D-Fairfax, will convene the Virginia Clean Economy Act Summit.

“With support from the Virginia Department of Energy, these industry leaders have come together to collaborate on a broad set of cutting edge solutions which will further cement Virginia’s legacy as a global technology hub and continue to power Virginia forward,” said Gary Demasi, global director of data center energy and location strategy at Google, in a news release.

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Participants discussed different types of energy that could be used to supply power for data centers, including SMRs, hydroelectricity and battery storage, according to attendees.

Data centers are the warehouses storing computers processing the internet and about 70% of those existing in the world are located in Virginia. Continued development of data centers is expected to more than double peak electricity needs in Dominion’s service territory, from 22 gigawatts this year to 45 megawatts by 2039.

The additional amounts of renewable, nuclear and natural gas electricity generation facilities Dominion is proposing to meet the expected 5.5% annual load growth during that time frame could lead to electric bills for a typical residential customer using 1,000 kilowatts of energy to increase from about $142.77 to $214.24 per month by the end of 2039.

Google previously announced a $1 billion investment in the state earlier this year to expand its data center campuses. Amazon and Dominion Energy announced a deal last month to develop a small modular reactor, or SMR, to meet energy needs.

“Growth in power demand presents a tremendous opportunity to evolve a stronger, more reliable energy system – these investments will both support Virginia’s economy and strengthen our country’s national security,” said Davis, with Virginia Energy, in the news release. “No one entity can tackle this challenge on their own, so bringing everyone to the table is a critical step towards developing the right portfolio of solutions.”

Dominion Energy, according to the news release, spoke about grid-enhancing technologies, or GET’s, which are ways to upgrade existing transmission lines to deliver more electricity without building new lines across communities.

By the end of last year, the utility had added or replaced 800 miles of transmission lines with advanced conductor technology, giving those cables an ability to carry 50% more electricity.

Dominion is also deploying dynamic line rate technology for about 27 lines in the Northern Virginia region, where data centers in the state are largely concentrated, to optimize how much electricity can be carried in different climate conditions.

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“We’ve been a leading pioneer on grid enhancing technologies for many years, including advanced conductors, and we continue deploying the latest innovations to enhance reliability and bring more clean energy on the grid,” said Ed Baine, President of Dominion Energy Virginia.

Google also announced Tuesday that it will contribute $250,000 to the Virginia Energy Efficiency Council’s effort to train workers on energy efficiency, which is the idea of sealing up homes and upgrading appliances to require less electricity.

Called the Energy Efficiency Workforce Initiative, the VEEC began the effort two years ago when a signature component of President Joe Biden’s landmark climate law, the Inflation Reduction Act, included tax breaks for the installation of modern heat pumps instead of older HVAC technologies.

The EEWI has teamed up with Community Housing Partners and expects to help 24 workers in the Hampton Roads region achieve by the end of the year state certification to make weatherization upgrades by the end of the year. Their work will make homes more energy efficient by improving roofs, insulation and windows.

The funding from Google will also allow the VEEC to offer energy efficiency training for other skilled trades, like electricians and plumbers, and expand their weatherization training statewide.

“Google’s support for energy efficiency job training comes at a critical time as we ramp up to meet the growing demand for these jobs,” said Chelsea Harnish, Executive Director of the Virginia Energy Efficiency Council. “Allowing the Council to expand our programs statewide will make a tremendous difference in helping the Commonwealth train and certify the needed energy efficiency workforce of the future.”

Next month, the state’s Joint Legislative Audit Review Commission is expected to release a wide range of policy recommendations concerning energy, water and land use needs for data centers.