Power
Power is the foundational resource of the modern economy — and in Virginia, it is the axis that everything else waits on. This page is a strategic placeholder while PJM queue data, Dominion IRP filings, SCC dockets, and county-level generation inventories are ingested into the score.
Power is the axis everything waits on
AI, advanced manufacturing, electrified transport, electrified heat, and semiconductors all resolve to the same request at the utility: we need more power, sooner. Virginia is the loudest version of this story in North America.
The question is no longer whether generation can be built. It is whether generation, transmission, and interconnection can be assembled together, in the same jurisdiction, faster than the load-growth curve.
- How much generation capacity exists — and what fuel mix?
- How much additional power can actually be delivered?
- Where are transmission bottlenecks emerging?
- Which regions can expand generation fastest?
Virginia's power geography
Highest concentration of large-load demand in North America. Every major transmission upgrade in PJM's queue routes through here.
Constraint —Substation backlog, 500-kV rebuild timelines out to 2028+, and public opposition to new lines through populated corridors.
CVOW brings 2.6 GW of offshore capacity to Hampton Roads. Cove Point and gas infrastructure make the coast a dual-fuel anchor.
Constraint —Marine-route permitting, port workforce, and federal policy shifts on offshore leasing.
Coal-country grid infrastructure and public support for advanced nuclear position the region for early small modular reactor (SMR) siting.
Constraint —Regulatory pathway for SMRs, supply-chain readiness, and workforce reskilling from coal to nuclear.
Solar build-out concentrated in Southside and central Virginia. Gas peakers filling the near-term reliability gap.
Constraint —Prime-farmland siting friction, county-level moratoria on utility solar, and gas pipeline capacity.
Critical north-south transmission spine. Upgrades here directly determine how much NoVA load can be served from western generation.
Constraint —Right-of-way politics, viewshed opposition, and multi-state PJM permitting.
Signals we are wiring into the score
| Signal | State | Note |
|---|---|---|
| PJM interconnection queue (DOM) | Constrained | Study cycles reshaping to prioritize shovel-ready projects |
| Dominion Integrated Resource Plan | Active | 2024 IRP filing dominated by data-center demand curve |
| SCC dockets — CPCN & rate cases | Elevated | New generation, storage, and transmission cases in-flight |
| Large-load ATA disclosures | New | Public docket disclosure now required for >100 MW customers |
| Offshore wind (CVOW) | On schedule | First turbines producing; full commercial ops targeted 2026 |
| SMR / advanced nuclear | Watch | State policy support advancing; first siting decisions still ahead |
| Battery storage (BESS) siting | Emerging | County zoning frameworks catching up to interconnection queue |
Interim scoring approach
The Power pillar currently derives from county-level generation MW per capita and plant counts (EIA-derived). It captures where power is generated, not where it can be delivered — which is increasingly the binding constraint in Virginia.
The next release folds in PJM interconnection queue depth, Dominion IRP load forecasts, SCC docket activity, and large-load ATA disclosures — letting the score reflect delivery capacity and forward headroom, not just installed base.
Read the scoring formula in /methodology#energy.