CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA (CVILLE RIGHT NOW) – Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger joined six other governors as well as the Mayor of Washington, D.C. in a letter sent to the major electric grid operator PJM Interconnection on Thursday to ensure, among other things, that data centers “pay their fair share for the energy and infrastructure they require.”
Spanberger joined the letter while the Democrat-led General Assembly has been unable to pass a budget because of disagreement over data center tax exemptions among members within the majority party.
The letter sent to PJM Interconnection leadership “outlined a consumers first framework for PJM’s new reliability backstop auction,” according to a Spanberger release.
PJM has been mentioned often by local supervisors in multiple counties as part of the impetus urging more power infrastructure, like the expanded Tenaska power plant in Fluvanna County and the Valley Link transmission line proposed across nine central Virginia counties.
“The Governors reiterated that regional grid operators were established to ‘promote efficiency in wholesale electricity markets and to ensure that electricity consumers pay the lowest price possible for reliable service,'” Spanberger said in a statement. “As we move Virginia into our energy future, we are working to make sure that our energy grid remains the reliable backbone of our economy, not a burden on Virginia ratepayers. PJM must continue to collaborate with the Commonwealth to keep affordability at the forefront and deliver the lowest possible electricity rates for Virginians through the pursuit of innovation.”
PJM is a regional transmission organization that coordinates and controls the electric grid which multiple power companies — including Dominion Energy, CVEC and REC — feed their electricity into for transmission.
PJM operates all or parts of power grids in Virginia, West Virginia, Tennessee, North Carolina, Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Ohio, Kentucky, Michigan, Indiana and Illinois.
Spanberger signed this letter along with D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser and the Governors of Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Indiana and Illinois.
