Virginia Data Center Electricity Share Could Reach 39–57% by 2030 — Seven States Follow; Grid Infrastructure Cannot Keep Pace

EPRI's February 2026 analysis — now widely cited post-DCW — is the benchmark state-level energy projection. Virginia's data center electricity share (already 25%+) could reach 39-57% by 2030 under EPRI's scenarios. Arizona, Indiana, Iowa, Nebraska, Nevada, Oregon, and Wyoming will all cross the 20% threshold. The $11.8B PJM transmission expansion plan (dominated by Dominion's $4.8B Virginia HVDC backbone, with a June 2032 completion target) is the primary grid relief mechanism — but it arrives 6-8 years after the constraint is already acute. Federal data centers in the Northern Virginia corridor should have contingency power strategies for the 2026-2032 window. (more)