Rappahannock Electric Cooperative President and CEO John Hewa gave the keynote address at the Virginia Chamber of Commerce Infrastructure Forum on Oct. 28, 2025.
“Infrastructure is the backbone of Virginia’s economic competitiveness,” said Keith Martin, Interim President and CEO of the Virginia Chamber of Commerce. “From reliable energy and efficient transportation to broadband and water systems, these investments make it possible for businesses of all sizes to thrive.”
Rapidly escalating energy demand fueled largely by the Commonwealth’s success in its economic development efforts was a key theme of Hewa’s comments. It is also a strategic consideration in Virginia, where data center development has boomed and is a key driver of large future investments in the state. Hewa emphasized Virginia’s role in meeting the needs of the world’s growing use of artificial intelligence. He shared several key metrics illustrating how much the Commonwealth’s energy landscape has changed, including a more than tenfold projected increase in the cost of generation capacity between early 2024 and summer of 2026, and the co-op’s 99 percent increase in the transmission service rate over the last decade. These rapidly rising power needs and the corresponding costs that challenge affordability for all Virginians require changing how the business of energy is conducted.
Hewa’s philosophy at REC embraces the cooperative model, yet he recognizes “when the business changes, change the business.” This is why REC leaders are effectively optimizing the capabilities of the cooperative model to manage risk and recognize opportunities.
“In Virginia, we need to accelerate regulatory reviews and permitting for new energy capacity generation. Additionally, we need to act today to prepare for operating during periods of scarcity by invoking energy storage and standby generation and authorizing emergency base load generation.” Hewa called for the immediate emergency authorization of 10,000MW of baseload generation in the Virginia load zone.
Hewa also emphasized the need to consider all available options to address energy capacity generation, and to factor the wide variance in capital costs associated with different types of infrastructure investments. He concluded that for every $10 billion in data center investment, Virginia needs $3.5 - $10.5 billion in generation investment.
John Hewa, President and CEO of Rappahannock Electric Cooperative, addresses the Virginia Forum on Infrastructure and Its Impact on Economic Development.