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Global data center demand persists, particularly in the most extensive market situated in northern Virginia, according to executives at Dominion Energy who spoke on Thursday.
Dominion Energy’s Role
Dominion supplies power to Loudoun County, known as “Data Center Alley” for housing the world’s largest concentration of data centers. The corporation collaborates with major technology firms, which are allocating tens of billions of dollars to construct new data facilities as the need for AI data centers escalates.
Unabated Data Center Demand
“There is no indication of waning demand from data center clients within our service region,” stated Steven Ridge, Dominion’s chief financial officer, during the company’s first-quarter earnings call with analysts.
The Impact of Economic Uncertainty
Investors on Wall Street have considered that the technology industry might scale back data center investments due to:
- Trade tariffs imposed by former President Donald Trump, complicating the procurement of components.
- Pandemic effects, and
- Fears of a recession.
The unveiling of China’s DeepSeek AI lab earlier in the year also triggered a sell-off in power stocks, as investors fretted over its purportedly more energy-efficient models.
Dominion’s Data Center Capacity
Ridge mentioned that Dominion has 40 gigawatts of data center capacity at varying stages of development. Additionally, data center clients have not halted expenditures on new ventures within Dominion’s service area, nor have they expressed concerns about economic ambiguities, asserted Dominion CEO Robert Blue.
Additional Capacity Requests
“We notice a sustained appetite for extra data center capacity in our service region,” Blue remarked. “They aim to expedite their projects, which is their operational strategy and has been for some time. We have proven successful in servicing their needs thus far, and I foresee no alterations in the upcoming period,” he added.
Tech Giants Share Similar Outlook
Last week, executives from Amazon and Nvidia shared their positive outlook on data center demand during a conference in Oklahoma City. Dominion’s shares observed a minor increase on Thursday, concluding the trading day with a roughly 1% gain, as the company reaffirmed its annual earnings guidance ranging from $3.28 to $3.52 per share.