Editorial: Data center rate class will help curb Virginia’s energy cost burden

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Dominion Energy customers, already feeling the effects of rising energy costs and other household expenses, will be zapped with a rate increase of about $13.50 a month over the next two years. But the good news emerging from a recent State Corporation Commission meeting is that a new, separate rate class will be created for power-hungry data centers, whose rapid growth is partly responsible for soaring prices.

The SCC rejected a request from Dominion that would have boosted bills by roughly double the approved rate. In a statement, the commissioners for the independent utility regulator wrote that the reduced rate request was sufficient for the company “to recover reasonable and prudent projected costs and earn a reasonable rate of retur