(The Center Square) – Dominion Energy’s updated electricity plan projects higher household bills as the utility prepares for growing demand.

The company filed its 2026 Integrated Resource Plan Update with the Virginia State Corporation Commission on Thursday, examining ways to meet electricity needs through 2046.

The filing is a planning document. It does not seek approval for individual power plants or rate increases, which require separate proceedings.

For a Virginia residential customer using 1,000 kilowatt-hours a month, Dominion projects a monthly bill of $258.03 by the end of 2036 under its calculation method, compared with $180.31 on Oct. 1.

A second calculation, using a methodology directed by the commission, projects a $320.26 monthly bill in 2036 for the same electricity use. Dominion prepared both estimates.

Dominion’s method incorporates forecast electricity sales growth and changes in how costs are divided among customer classes. The commission-directed method holds those allocations constant and assumes no sales growth in the calculation.

The company says the second method overstates future bills. Neither estimate represents an approved rate increase.

Orphe Divounguy, chief economist at The Center Square, says growing electricity sales can spread some system costs across more kilowatt-hours. Other customer classes could also absorb a larger share of those costs, reducing the amount assigned to residential customers.

“I wouldn’t interpret either number as a prediction of what someone’s electric bill will actually be in 2036,” Divounguy said. “They’re projections conditional on different assumptions.”

He said investments made to meet anticipated demand would still need to be paid for if that demand falls short. Who bears those costs would depend on how regulators allocate them.

The filing identifies changes in projected data center electricity use as a key driver of increases in the regional demand forecast.

Dominion says a mix of resources is needed to meet demand throughout the day and across seasons. It also wants to reduce dependence on purchases from the regional electricity market, citing price volatility and the risk that sufficient power may not be available when needed.

Its preferred plan includes nearly 9,000 megawatts of additional natural gas generation, more than 21,000 megawatts of solar, about 3,500 megawatts each of wind and storage, and about 2,000 megawatts of nuclear capacity.

Those modeled additions exclude existing and recently approved projects already incorporated into the analysis.

The Southern Environmental Law Center criticized the plan Friday, saying additional gas generation would increase emissions and expose customers to fossil fuel costs.

A separate scenario limiting projected data center growth to facilities with completed electric service agreements includes about 4,949 megawatts of additional gas generation, compared with 8,965 megawatts in the preferred plan, and no additional nuclear capacity. Dominion says that scenario would not reflect meeting its obligation to serve future customers.

The Center Square was unsuccessful prior to publication getting comment from Dominion.