At a time when energy — how it’s produced, where it comes from, what it costs — is dominating the political landscape, Virginia is getting a new forum to focus on those issues.
The College of William & Mary Law School announced Monday it’s starting a Center for Energy Law & Policy — with Mark Christie, the former chair of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, as its director.
The Center’s first major public activity will be a spring 2026 conference focused on how Virginia and the United States can meet the needs of both data centers and everyday consumers, the school said in a statement.
Virginia has more data centers than any other state; it also imports more electricity than any other state.
Christie was a commissioner on FERC for four years and served as chairman from January until his term expired in August. He previously was chairman of the Virginia State Corporation Commission, a body that he served on for nearly 17 years. Before that, he led the Virginia Board of Education and was counsel to then-Gov. George Allen in the 1990s.
William & Mary said the Center for Energy Law & Policy will serve as “ a hub for convening policymakers, scholars, and students to address critical issues shaping the future of energy regulation.”
In a statement, Christie said, “Energy issues touch every aspect of our lives. Although energy may account for only seven percent of GDP, it’s the foundational seven percent — everything else in our economy and lifestyle flows from it.”
In a message to Cardinal News, Christie said: “Virginia is the perfect location for such a center since we are Ground Zero for the Planet on data center development and all the challenges that come with it: consumer costs, reliability issues, and the political issues that flow from those. Those represent the biggest challenges to reliability and affordability today, so Virginia and William & Mary Law will be at the forefront of discussing and analyzing these challenges.”
Christie will also begin teaching an energy law course at William & Mary in spring 2026.