Rappahannock Electric Cooperative (REC) President and CEO John Hewa gave the keynote address at a community energy forum in Berryville on Dec. 3, 2025. More than 20 attended the breakfast event, representing area community, educational and government leaders.
“From an electric co-op’s perspective, we want to make sure we’re working with the counties, working with economic development, working with emerging large-scale members, to get the job done.” Hewa said. “We want to make sure we just want to do it in a way that doesn’t harm, and in fact brings benefit to the balance of Virginia, and the rest of our membership.”
Hewa laid out the Commonwealth’s energy demands and capacity and called for partnership on the immediate actions needed to ensure Virginia’s energy future and mitigate the foreseeable energy shortages driven by rapidly escalating energy demand.
“The status quo is unsustainable,” Hewa warned, citing a 2025 U.S. Department of Energy Study. “A lot of the outcome is going to come down to how do federal and state policies open up what happens with the location of new large energy loads and how do we meet our energy needs of the future.”
The current outlook demands action now, both nationally and in our state, Hewa emphasized, illustrating the energy capacity challenges through key metrics and trends. “Virginia needs to double its capacity by 2040 according to PJM forecasts, either in the Commonwealth, or in a neighboring state.”
PJM is a regional transmission organization that serves all or parts of 13 states, including Virginia.
Hewa advocated for considering all available energy capacity generation options, and for siting the new generation in Virginia.
“The fix for Virginia’s energy challenge is actually a grand economic development opportunity,” Hewa said. “If Virginia embraces bringing power plants of all types back into the Commonwealth for new expansion, it brings a lot of new investment. We have counties we serve where power plants have been the largest tax contributor for decades, bringing jobs and career opportunities.”
Hewa asked the audience to partner with REC in advancing four solutions to ensure Virginia’s ability to meet the demands of its residents and its continued economic development.
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Accelerating regulatory processes.
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Accelerating permitting processes.
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Invoking energy storage and backup generation.
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Immediately authorizing 10,000MW of dispatchable baseload generation, sited in Virginia.
Hewa wrapped up his comments with a positive vision for the future of the Commonwealth.
“The solution for the energy challenge is surrounded by new investment, it’s surrounded by jobs, and it creates an opportunity for Virginia to be the absolute epicenter – not just for energy consumption now right now, but an epicenter for energy production and the technologies that surround that,” Hewa said. “The solution for the energy challenge could well catapult Virginia into more than the driver’s seat globally for energy technology development.”
