NEWS: Large-load customers must foot the bill for dedicated transmission infrastructure, Virginia officials say.

The details: The Virginia State Corporation Commission has ordered large loads like data centers to pay for substations and other “direct connect” facilities they need to link up to the grid. Substations alone can cost $25-50M each, so this order could net some serious ratepayer savings.  

Dominion has “resisted” offers from tech companies to pay for such upgrades, US Energy Sec. Jennifer Granholm said on LinkedIn. Now, the Virginia commission is directing Dominion to tweak its line extension policy to allow for these payments from data center developers. 

The blueprint: Granholm called this order “a watershed decision that provides a critical national blueprint for consumer protection.”