Every four years, the Commonwealth develops an Energy Plan to guide our energy policy and decision-making for the years ahead.
We have written this Energy Plan at a moment unlike any in the recent past. Electricity demand is rising rapidly, and our energy system will need to grow at a pace we have not seen in more than 80 years.
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To meet this moment, my Administration started by engaging thousands of Virginians — residents, businesses, utilities, advocates, and local government leaders — through public listening sessions, stakeholder engagement meetings, and a statewide survey. We wanted to know what they need from our energy system.
Across our Commonwealth, Virginians conveyed the same priorities. Energy should be reliable, with enough power to support Virginia's growth. It should be clean and built in a way that protects the health of our communities and the natural resources around us. It should be local, so the jobs and benefits of our energy growth stay here in Virginia. And universally, everyone said it must be affordable.
Understanding the complexity of this moment, we knew that this year's Energy Plan needed to do more than present a prescriptive path forward — it needed to analyze the options before us.
To achieve this, we used sophisticated modeling and analysis to develop this Energy Plan — the same kind of modeling utilities use to decide what to build, when, and at what cost. In fact, Virginia Energy is now one of the few state energy offices in the country that can conduct this modeling in-house.
The Energy Plan models four primary pathways to explore the costs, benefits, and realities of each potential energy mix. Some models lean more on local energy — like rooftop solar and batteries. Other models build more nuclear power here at home and rely less on electricity from out of state. While others look at what would happen if solar deployment were limited or no new gas plants were built. Notably, each of the four models keeps Virginia on a path to net-zero emissions by 2050.
Further, the Energy Plan does not simply consider the cost of building new power — it considers the potential trade-offs that come with each modeled path forward so that they are part of the discussion from the start.
And, importantly, the Energy Plan also models the cost of walking away from our clean energy commitments. While some might question whether abandoning Virginia's Clean Economy Act or once again exiting the Regional Green House Gas Initiative could produce cost savings, the model quantitatively disputes this notion. Not only would taking these actions nearly double carbon emissions over the next two decades, doing so would also cost Virginians an estimated $145 billion in health impacts.
In producing this Energy Plan, we have clearly demonstrated that there are multiple paths forward that would allow Virginia to meet our clean energy goals, strengthen our energy mix, and power growth, investment and innovation.
In presenting four similar, yet different modeled paths forward, rather than one prescriptive path, we are recognizing that trade-offs exist with every energy choice, that unforeseeable circumstances may influence our options, and that advancing technologies will impact our choices and outcomes into the future.
With this recognition, the work of our Administration — in concert with the General Assembly — is to ensure Virginia is prepared to be nimble, responsive, innovative in delivering an affordable, reliable, clean energy future.
I want to extend my appreciation to the Virginians who helped inform this Energy Plan, the Virginia Energy team for their tireless work, modeling, and data analyses, and the members of my Administration who worked to deliver this 2026 Virginia Energy Plan.
I look forward to working with legislators, local leaders, businesses, utilities, and communities across the Commonwealth as we demonstrate all that is possible when we deliver affordable, reliable, and local clean energy to power a thriving economy — today and for generations to come.
Sincerely,Governor Abigail Spanberger
