Welcome to Notes from the Square, a roundup of state politics and policy news. Each week, we bring you updates on the movers and shakers in Virginia politics as well as the legislation they’re supporting or opposing — with a Southwest and Southside Virginia focus.
Got a tip or story idea? Email me at elizabeth@cardinalnews.org.
I was out of the office last week, so apologies if you missed my notes column in its absence. And for those of you that didn’t miss it, I don’t apologize. Anyway, let’s recap:
General Assembly members back Spanberger’s appeal to SCC regarding data center transmission costs
A group of Democratic bicameral lawmakers in the General Assembly sent a letter to the State Corporation Commission on Thursday in support of Gov. Abigail Spanberger’s effort to urge regulators to assign costs of energy transmission projects driven by data center needs to those facilities.
Inside Climate News first reported Spanberger’s effort on Monday. Spanberger’s chief energy officer, Joseph Almond, submitted a filing to the SCC on July 9 to urge the commission to require data centers pay for the energy transmission projects.
Transmission projects include smaller, supplemental lines and larger lines. Dominion Energy is currently authorized to fund those projects and then recover the costs from ratepayers, according to the lawmakers’ letter.
[Disclosure: Dominion is one of our donors, but donors have no say in news decisions; see our policy.]
“We agree with the Governor’s office that in addition to the safeguards already enacted, these projects should be managed in more cost-effective and efficient ways, and in ways that ensure the profiting industry is responsible for their costs, rather than ratepayers. We also echo the Administration’s call to analyze best practice and cost-effective transmission planning so that moving forward, we more adequately protect ratepayers,” the lawmakers wrote.
The letter expressed support for two tenets of the administration’s filing:
- A cost-modeling formula that says any investments in network or substation upgrades would be assumed “directly by the triggering large load customer” and
- A cost-allocation framework that would ensure more accurate attribution of costs to large-load facilities and more accurate, and fair, billing of ratepayers.
“We thought it was important to support the Administration’s stance. They are absolutely right that data centers should pay for the costs of transmission lines, not the ratepayers. These policies would protect Virginians, keep energy bills from increasing, and work toward a more reliable grid,” Sen. Schuyler VanValkenburg, D-Henrico County, said in a statement.
Dels. Sam Rasoul, D-Roanoke, and Lily Franklin, D-Montgomery County, signed on in support of the letter.
Lt. Gov. Hashmi presents her summer reading list ahead of an autumn visit to Southwest Virginia
Lt. Gov. Ghazala Hashmi, a college professor and administrator for many years, will head to Southwest Virginia for a literature and government lecture series this fall.
She plans to visit Wytheville Community College, Radford University and Roanoke College over a three-day tour near the end of September. She selected books that “examine the intersections of literature, civic life, democracy, and government” to discuss with attendees. More details will be made public in August.
Her summer reading list, shared by her office on Tuesday, includes “Working,” by Studs Terkel, as the focus of her lecture at Wytheville Community College on Sept. 22; “The Hangman’s Beautiful Daughter” and “She Walks These Hills,” both by Sharyn McCrumb, to be discussed at Radford University on Sept. 23; and “Demon Copperhead” by Barbara Kingsolver and “David Copperfield” by Charles Dickens for her Sept. 24 visit to Roanoke College.
“The texts selected for this September’s lecture series give us a chance to look at the role of government through the lens of literature,” Hashmi said in a statement. “We will explore issues as significant as Virginia’s foster care system, substance abuse, poverty, heritage, culture, as well as labor and the dignity of work. I look forward to discussing these texts with Virginians across the Southwest region this fall.”
Griffith celebrates $7.3 million in Helene recovery funds for Southwest Virginia
U.S. Rep. Morgan Griffith, R-Salem, expressed his gratitude Tuesday following an announcement from Spanberger’s office that $7.3 million in federal funds is headed to Southwest Virginia to aid in ongoing recovery following Hurricane Helene.
Giles and Washington counties will each receive $3.5 million for the repair, rehabilitation, reconstruction and replacement of disaster-damaged homes for low- and moderate-income households. The town of Fries in Grayson County will receive $322,712 for the installation of a generator at its water treatment facility to avoid water service outages during future disasters.
“I support using the federal Community Development Block Grant-Disaster Recovery program for Hurricane Helene aid to help communities in Virginia,” Griffith said in a statement. “These grants for more than $7.3 million help Giles and Washington Counties as well as the Town of Fries support recovery efforts in the region.”
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development administers the Community Development Block Grant-Disaster Recovery program and the commonwealth will be responsible for providing the funds to the sub-recipients.
The $7.3 million is the latest in federal funding to be allocated to help Southwest Virginia recover from the September 2024 storm. The region was also slated to receive from the feds:
- $46.67 million from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, announced in January 2025;
- Nearly $6 million in a separate grant for Washington County water line repairs, announced in April 2025;
- More than $4.2 million for a Wytheville wastewater treatment system, announced in January;
- More than $8.6 million for water line repair, announced in February;
- More than $1.7 million for bridge repair, announced in April;
- More than $2.8 million for road repair, announced in June; and
- More than $9.3 million for waterline repairs and $1.2 million in bridge repairs, announced in July.
And more federal money is heading to the region to support Head Start programs
Griffith also announced Thursday that a grant of roughly $3 million has been awarded to Galax-based Rooftop of Virginia CAP by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to support local Head Start projects.
“Head Start and Early Head Start services support communities in the Twin Counties region,” Griffith said in a statement. “This HHS grant for more than $3 million helps Rooftop of Virginia maintain head start operations in the region.”
Rooftop of Virginia supports Head Start services in Galax and Carroll and Grayson counties that serve more than 260 participants. Rooftop of Virginia operates three Head Start classrooms in the region.
The General Assembly passed a bill during its 2026 session that directed the state to study the effectiveness and health of the Head Start program in the commonwealth, with a report due on Dec. 1.
