Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger’s decision to weigh in on NextEra Energy’s proposed $67 billion takeover of Dominion Energy shows how data centers are reshuffling the political map.
The Virginia Democrat penned an op-ed in The Washington Post on Thursday, announcing her decision to formally intervene in regulatory proceedings and declaring herself “deeply skeptical” of what would be the largest utility merger in U.S. history.
Data centers are at the center of the proposed tie-up. Virginia is home to the world’s largest collection of data centers, and Dominion is the state’s largest utility. NextEra and Dominion have argued the combined company would be better able to keep up with data centers’ rising electricity demands. But that argument has run smack into mounting political skepticism in Richmond, where lawmakers spent the recent legislative session debating plans to end a sales use tax for the facilities (they declined) and a new tax on their electricity consumption (which they approved.)
Data centers are clearly on Spanberger’s mind when it comes to NextEra’s proposed takeover. Writing in the Post, the governor said, “To keep our energy system fair, my administration is holding data centers accountable — implementing tougher environmental standards for their diesel generators and water usage, enforcing a first-of-its-kind statewide tax on their energy consumption, and successfully urging regulators to make them cover the cost of the infrastructure they need.”
