Data centers can go up faster than the power lines that feed them, and the real wait is buried in long utility filings.
powerdate turns those filings into a power date: a dated forecast of when the utility can deliver a project's electricity,
graded in public once the power is on. Think of it as a credit rating for power.
7 of 9
past Virginia data center power-line projects ran late, by a median of 17 months¹
38
past Virginia power-line cases (2018-2025) behind every forecast
¹ Projects whose promised date has passed. In 3 of the 7, the customer's own site was part of the delay.
Source: powerdate study of 38 Virginia State Corporation Commission (SCC) power-line cases, using SCC and PJM records.
Forecasts
Report #1 · version 1 · issued 24 Oct 2026
Google data center campus
Botetourt County, Virginia · ~300 MW · Appalachian Power · SCC case PUR-2026-00132
Our power date (median)
Feb 2030
Utility's target
15 Nov 2029
Likely range (10% to 90%)
Nov 2029 to Jun-Aug 2031
Timeline. Our median for state approval is Apr 2027.
Our power date is Feb 2030, likely between Nov 2029 and Jun-Aug 2031.
The utility's target is 15 Nov 2029. The table below has the same numbers.
State approval (SCC final order)
Apr 2027
Power on (full ~300 MW)
Feb 2030Target 15 Nov 2029
2026202720282029203020312032
Our medianLikely range (10% to 90%)Utility's targetToday
Forecast numbers
Step
Early (10%)
Median
Late (90%)
State approval
Mar 2027
Apr 2027
Aug 2027
Power on
Nov 2029
Feb 2030
Jun-Aug 2031
Next signpost2 Dec 2026. Deadline for hearing requests. A granted hearing would push approval about 3 months later.
Our docket watcher checks every tracked case on the SCC's public docket and logs each new document.
Filings that can move a forecast, like a hearing request or a final order, are marked.
Showing the 8 newest of 15 logged filings. Each title links to the PDF on the SCC website.
How a power date is made
Read the public record
State utility cases, utility project pages, and the grid operator's (PJM's) list of grid upgrades. The docket watcher logs every new filing.
Compare with history
38 past Virginia power-line cases show how long approval took, how long building took, and how often and how far projects slipped.
Publish, then grade
Each forecast keeps its issue date and version. Updates are new versions, and old ones are never edited. When the power is on, the real date goes next to the forecast.
What a power date means: the month when the utility's new lines and substations can deliver the project's full load.
It does not include delays on the customer's own site.
Track record
Every forecast stays here with its date, including the ones we get wrong.