By:
As utility costs surge and the proposed Dominion Energy and NextEra Energy merger could mean a change in energy policies, U.S. Rep. Eugene Vindman, D-Woodbridge, this week proposed two bills to heighten electricity rates transparency.
Another Virginia congressional representative, U.S. Rep. Suhas Subramanyam, D-Loudoun, pitched a measure to strategically protect data centers and surrounding communities from attacks by international adversaries.
Both efforts represent the latest actions by Virginia’s federal lawmakers to address energy and technology challenges in the state and across the country.
Energy transparency
Vindman proposed the Home Energy Affordability Act, which would limit utility rate increases to just once a year nationwide.
The Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 dictates how states may streamline electric utility rate policies, including increases. Vidman’s bill would amend that law “to require States to consider measures that limit the amount of retail utility rate increases an electric utility can request to once every 365 days.”
In Virginia, electric utilities must get approval from the State Corporation Commission before they can hike rates. The regulatory authority considers the reasoning behind the rate increases every two years for the biennial review for Dominion Energy, for example, and has to deem the rate increases reasonable.
The congressman, who is running for re-election, also filed the Utility Hikes Transparency Act, which would create an online database of retail utility rate changes across the country.
The public dashboard would include data on rate changes from investor-owned utilities, cooperatives, and municipality owned utilities so that customers can compare how their providers stand up to others around the nation.
“Electricity bills are out of control in Virginia, and I am fighting to bring your monthly bills down,” Vindman said in a statement. “The Home Energy Affordability Act and the Utility Hikes Transparency Act are common sense laws that would limit rate changes to once per calendar year and ensure these companies cannot hide price increases from consumers.”
Protecting against data center threats
In Loudoun County alone, which Subramanyam represents, there are 53 million square feet of data centers. While tech companies race to develop and expand artificial intelligence capabilities, experts have warned that data centers could increasingly be targeted for technical and physical attacks.
Subramanyam’s Data Infrastructure Risk Reduction Act directs the Department of Homeland Security and other partners to “identify data centers that should be treated as critical infrastructure” and develop a defense plan for the communities that surround the 4,000 data centers nationwide.
The bill also calls for the development of protection plans for the water and energy transmission infrastructure in communities that serve data centers.
“Data centers have become targets in the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East. Some of my constituents live within 100 feet of data centers and they are rightfully concerned about their own safety,” Subramanyam said in a statement. “We need a clear plan to protect communities across the country that are in proximity to data centers.”
The three bills have yet to have their first hearings in the House and must win the support of both chambers of Congress before they can be considered by President Donald Trump and potentially signed into law.