Request US data-centre electricity records

The DC + Mid-Atlantic estimate uses Dominion Energy Virginia's published billing-demand figures - a good starting point, but not measured load. Better data exists in regulatory filings, utility commission dockets, and planning records. Public records laws give you a practical route to ask for it.

These templates cover Virginia FOIA, federal FOIA, and DC FOIA requests. Virginia FOIA requires “reasonable specificity.” Agencies must respond within five working days and may request up to seven additional working days (twelve working days total in complex cases). Federal FOIA targets DOE, EIA, and FERC. DC FOIA gives access to public records held by DC agencies - but agencies are not required to create analysis, only to release records they already hold.

What is already public

Some useful records are already publicly available without a formal request:

Virginia State Corporation Commission (SCC) dockets

Dominion Energy Virginia files integrated resource plans, rate cases, and load forecasts with the SCC. These filings are public and searchable at scc.virginia.gov. The Indiana IURC filing used as the source for this site is one example of a publicly filed utility document.

PJM planning and load documents

PJM publishes long-term load forecasts, interconnection queue data, and planning reports at pjm.com. Dominion zone load forecast materials are included.

EIA Hourly Electric Grid Monitor

EIA publishes hourly balancing-authority demand, including PJM, at no cost via its Hourly Electric Grid Monitor. Balancing-authority total demand is near real time; sub-regional data (e.g. Dominion zone) may lag by one to two days.

County planning portals

Loudoun County, Fairfax County, and Prince William County publish planning applications and special-use permits online. Data-centre applications often include energy statements or grid-impact assessments.

What to ask for via FOIA

Records that public bodies may hold but have not proactively published:

internal demand forecasts and load growth assumptions for data centres
grid connection applications, capacity assessments, and connection agreements
internal briefings or correspondence about data-centre electricity demand or grid reinforcement
assumptions used in local energy, infrastructure, or economic-development planning
carbon or emissions assumptions linked to data-centre electricity use
planning documents that discuss energy use, grid impact, or infrastructure requirements

Who might hold it

No single body will hold everything. Target whichever is most likely to hold what you are looking for.

Local planning (Virginia FOIA)

Loudoun County, Fairfax County, Prince William County planning departments; county boards of supervisors; local economic-development authorities.

Virginia state agencies (Virginia FOIA)

Virginia Department of Energy, Virginia Economic Development Partnership, Virginia State Corporation Commission (most SCC filings are already public via docket search).

Federal agencies (federal FOIA)

Department of Energy / Energy Information Administration (EIA) - for national or regional demand surveys and reports; Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) - for interconnection and transmission documents; EPA - for emissions or environmental assessments.

DC agencies (DC FOIA)

DC Office of Planning, DC Department of Energy and Environment. Note: the DC grid is served primarily by Pepco (a private utility), which is not subject to DC FOIA. FERC and PJM filings are the better route for DC-area grid capacity data.

Private data-centre operators and utilities are not directly subject to FOIA, but public bodies may hold information about them through planning, grid, or regulatory processes.

How to use these templates

Replace the square-bracketed text with your specific locality, project, date range, and contact details.
Virginia FOIA: send to the relevant agency's FOIA officer (most agencies accept email; some have online portals). Include a return address or email - it is required. The agency must respond within five working days; it may request up to seven additional working days for complex requests (twelve working days maximum total).
Federal FOIA: identify the specific office within DOE, EIA, or FERC most likely to hold the records, and submit via that office's FOIA portal or email. Response is required within 20 business days, though backlogs are common.
If the agency says the request is too broad, ask what categories of records they hold and how to narrow it. The templates include a clause prompting this.
If you receive a useful response, consider sharing it via MuckRock so the public record can improve.

The templates

Three templates: Virginia FOIA (most relevant for Loudoun/Fairfax/Prince William county data and state agencies), federal FOIA (DOE/EIA, FERC), and DC FOIA. All are editable before you copy.

Fill in the square brackets, then copy and send.

Subject: FOIA Request: data-centre electricity demand, grid impacts, and planning documents - [County / locality name]

Dear [public body / FOIA officer],

This is a request under the Virginia Freedom of Information Act (Va. Code § 2.2-3700 et seq.) for access to public records.

Please provide public records you hold concerning data-centre electricity demand, grid capacity, planning decisions, or infrastructure assessments in relation to [locality / county / project name] for the period [date range, e.g. January 2020 to present].

[If relevant: this request includes information relating to [specific data-centre site or project, if known].]

With reasonable specificity, I am requesting records that may include:

1. Electricity demand
   - estimates or measurements of electricity demand from existing or proposed data centres
   - peak demand, annual demand, load factor, or capacity assumptions
   - demand forecasts that include data-centre growth
   - assumptions used to model future electricity demand from data centres

2. Grid and utility impacts
   - applications, offers, or agreements for grid connection, and any supporting capacity assessments
   - documents discussing local or regional transmission or distribution reinforcement required for data-centre load
   - assessments of substation or feeder capacity linked to data-centre demand
   - correspondence with Dominion Energy, NOVEC, other utilities, PJM Interconnection, FERC, the Virginia State Corporation Commission, county planning departments, or developers about data-centre electricity demand

3. Planning and land-use records
   - planning applications, special-use permits, by-right data-centre approvals, or site plans for data-centre facilities
   - staff reports, environmental review documents, transportation studies, or condition letters discussing energy use or grid impact
   - comprehensive plan elements, proffer statements, overlay provisions, or economic-development documents that address data-centre electricity demand or grid infrastructure

4. Environmental and carbon assumptions
   - estimates of greenhouse gas emissions associated with data-centre electricity use
   - assumptions about carbon intensity, renewable energy supply, backup generation, or power purchase agreements
   - any environmental impact assessments, air permit documents, or sustainability reports covering data-centre electricity demand

Please provide records electronically. Where records are in tables or spreadsheets, CSV or Excel format is preferred. For reports, correspondence, or other documents, PDF is acceptable.

If any part of this request is too broad or unclear, please advise how it can be narrowed. Specifically, please describe what categories of records you hold that are responsive and suggest revised wording that would allow you to process the request.

If you do not hold some records requested, please say so. If you believe another public body is more likely to hold them, please identify that body.

If you withhold any record under a VFOIA exemption, please cite the specific statutory exemption (Va. Code §), identify the withheld records in a log, and release any portions that can be disclosed.

Respectfully,

[Your name]
[Contact information - an address or email is required]

Then paste into an email to the relevant agency.

What to expect

Virginia FOIA: agencies may withhold records under specific exemptions, including trade secrets, attorney-client privilege, and certain law-enforcement or security information. The template asks them to identify any exemption and release what they can.

Federal FOIA: common exemptions include confidential commercial information (Exemption 4), internal agency deliberations (Exemption 5), and national security (Exemption 1). Request a Vaughn index if records are withheld so you can assess whether to appeal.

Looking for the UK version? Environmental Information Request templates for Great Britain →

← Back to DC + Mid-Atlantic