Dominion Power Shows "Pre-Certified" Sites in Their Territory. Valuable Information for Potential Clients.

Dominion Power's Interactive Territory Map

Dominion Power's data center services website  ( www.dom.com/ddcs ) has a multitude of useful information on rates and services but what caught my attention is an interactive map that shows Pre-Certified sites within their territory.  Important to note that Dominion is not limiting new prospects just to these locations; I would consider these sites as being "Pre-Screened" from a power transmission perspective and therefore readily available for data centers to move into. 

In my opinion, who benefits from this information:

• Potential data center end users performing site selection due diligence
• Consultants who are engaged in site selection services
• Developers and Real estate agents in the data center space
• Lenders who are providing capital

Making such information available to end users demonstrates how serious Dominion is about attracting data center clients into their territory.  It shows that they understand the language of data center end users: that schedules are ever tighter to launch new data centers online.  This type of upfront leg work is valuable time-saving information to the beneficiaries listed above during site selection and planning (one less spreadsheet to fill out!).

In discussions with Dominion representatives, they also made it clear that their business plan is to accommodate client power needs regardless of the required amount.  How will they do that? Well, they plan on adding 400 MW distribution for 2013 and another 400 MW in 2014 (800 MW total); bundled with extensive maintenance spending on their lines and landscape. That is pretty impressive.  

It takes a team effort to deliver a data center online and be profitable; this is another step in the right direction to simplify the process. We hope to see similar responsiveness and service from other utilities in our area.