Richmond, Va – Today, Governor Abigail Spanberger released her administration’s 2026 Virginia Energy Plan, outlining a “Clean-First, Least-Cost” approach to meeting the Commonwealth’s rapidly growing electricity demand while maintaining Virginia’s transition toward a 100 percent clean power sector.
The plan prioritizes near-term investments in solar, energy storage, energy efficiency, distributed energy resources, demand flexibility, and better utilization of Virginia’s existing electric grid, alongside longer-term clean energy resources including offshore wind.
In Response, Connor Kish, Director of Sierra Club Virginia Chapter, released the following statement:
“Today, Governor Spanberger has presented a plan that begins to tilt the scale back to a future where clean energy, climate action, and lower electric bills can become the standard after years of administration policy towards the opposite. We’re encouraged to see this shift toward ideas that are friendly to our air, water, and wallets. We commend the Governor’s “clean- first, least-cost” approach.
We will work with anyone to implement plans that reduce our reliance on fossil fuels and keep Virginia on track to meet the goals of the Virginia Clean Economy Act. To do that, we will need to rein in completely unchecked data center development and continued speculative proposals, day after day, that seem intent on disregarding the Commonwealth’s laws at the behest of Big Tech corporations that can do better.
Implementing a clean energy plan and ending the runaway data center buildout need to go hand-in-hand. That’s our reality in Virginia. We remain ready to do that work, and we thank the Governor and her administration for this comprehensive analysis.”