Energy Infrastructure Being Tested by Increased Demand from Data Centers

RICHMOND, Va. — The Virginia section of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) released the 2026 Report Card for Virginia’s Infrastructure today, assigning the Commonwealth’s infrastructure a grade of ‘C’. That grade is unchanged from the 2022 Virginia report card and matches the grade on ASCE’s 2025 Report Card for America’s Infrastructure. A ‘C’ grade means Virginia’s infrastructure is in mediocre condition and requires attention. The report covers 13 categories of infrastructure: bridges, broadband, dams, drinking water, energy, public parks, rail, roads, schools, solid waste, stormwater, transit, and wastewater.  

Four infrastructure categories (bridges, rail, roads, solid waste, and stormwater) saw grades increase, while only two categories (dams and schools) saw grades drop compared to the 2022 report card. Additionally, 11 of the 13 infrastructure categories received an equal or higher grade than their national counterparts. Only Virginia’s energy and rail infrastructure had grades lower than the national category grades.  

Grade | Categories 

B+ Bridges, Broadband 

B Solid Waste 

C+ Drinking Water, Rail 

C Public Parks, Roads, Stormwater 

C- Dams, Transit 

D+ Schools, Wastewater 

D Energy 

The report finds that infrastructure systems that have received consistent, reliable, dedicated funding sources are showing steady improvement and are seeing additional benefits from short-term investment programs like the federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA). However, with funding from the IIJA expiring in September, future improvements are in jeopardy if investment reverts to pre IIJA levels. Additionally, the report card found infrastructure sectors where funding has been inconsistent are not improving and face challenges in the future.  

“Infrastructure investment works and leads to better economic outcomes for Virginia families and businesses,” said John Harman, P.E., Chair of the 2026 Report Card for Virginia’s Infrastructure. “This report card reveals the consequences of decades of underinvestment, along with the improvements Virginians are seeing because of recent investment by federal, state, and local leaders. Safe, reliable, modern infrastructure is key to attracting people, businesses, and jobs to the Commonwealth.”   

This is the first time ASCE has released a grade for Virginia’s energy, which came in at a ‘D’, lower than the national energy grade of ‘D+’. Energy use in Virginia is forecast to double by the year 2039, in large part because of data centers and other facilities with high energy demands. Virginia’s electric infrastructure faces a looming capacity crisis; the Commonwealth is the nation’s largest importer of out-of-state electricity with 36% of energy consumed in Virginia generated in other states. Additionally, 56% of electricity consumed in the state is for commercial use, compared to 35% nationally. While energy providers have ambitious plans to build new modern energy generation, transmission, and distribution facilities, demand is forecast to grow much faster than current expansion plans. 

Bridges is one of two categories to receive a ‘B+’ on the 2026 report card, an increase from a ‘B’ in 2022.  Only 3.1% of the state’s more than 13,000 bridges are in poor condition, which is substantially lower than the national average of 6.8%. While there has been progress to keep bridges in good or fair condition, many of the state’s bridges are near or approaching the end of their design life. The report card found 58% of bridges are more than 50 years old. Additionally, the number of bridges and culverts that have weight restrictions grew between 2021 and 2025, with 1,443 posted for weight restrictions in 2025, compared to 1,116 in 2021.  

Roads in Virginia improved to a ‘C’ on the 2026 report card, up from a ‘C-’ in 2022. The state’s busiest highways are well maintained, with 91% of interstate highways and 82% of high-volume primary roads in fair, good, or excellent condition. High volume secondary roads also saw substantial improvements over the last few years, with 82% in fair or better condition in 2024, compared with 60% in 2020. Despite this progress, there are still 40,000 lane miles of highway in Virginia in poor or worse conditions, primarily on roads with lower traffic volume. Traffic volume across Virginia has rebounded to pre-pandemic levels, and urban commuters lose approximately 39 hours of productivity per year due to traffic congestion.  

Virginia’s water infrastructure received higher grades than the national report card. Drinking water received a ‘C+’, compared to the national ‘C-’ grade, and the state’s stormwater grade of ‘C’ is a whole letter grade higher than the national average of ‘D’. While these systems are performing better than their national counterparts, funding sources for water infrastructure are not keeping up with demand, and many drinking water lines installed decades ago need rehabilitation or replacement. The state has more than $30 billion in stormwater infrastructure needs, driven by growth, flooding concerns, and climate adaptation needs due to increasing severe weather events and tidal flooding in coastal areas.  

The report card includes five recommendations to raise Virginia’s infrastructure grade, they include:  

  • Investment: Increased investment is needed to meet growing demands driven by population growth and more intense storm events. Targeted funding will help ensure infrastructure can continue to operate safely and reliably under increasing stress. 
  • Resilience: Recent storms have demonstrated Virginia’s resilience while highlighting the need for the state to prepare for future events, including updating emergency action plans for all departments and municipalities.
  • Safety: Strengthening dam inspection programs and adopting comprehensive roadway safety strategies will be essential to reducing risks and improving public safety statewide.
  • Capacity: Added capacity for aging water-related infrastructure is critical, especially as population growth continues. Many systems are past their design life cycle and need upgrades, which will help to address water quality, flooding, and erosion concerns.
  • Technology: Relying on improving technologies such as green infrastructure and artificial intelligence (AI) will help to stretch limited funding and ensure investments are made efficiently.

The report card is a public service to inform citizens and policymakers about the infrastructure needs in Virginia. Civil engineers use their expertise and school report card-style letter grades to condense complicated data into an easy-to-understand analysis of Virginia’s infrastructure network. ASCE state report cards are modeled after the Report Card for America’s Infrastructure, which is released once every four years. 

The full report card is available here. Interviews with ASCE members who wrote the 2026 Report Card for Virginia’s Infrastructure are available by contacting [email protected]. 

About the American Society of Civil Engineers

Founded in 1852, the American Society of Civil Engineers represents more than 160,000 civil engineers worldwide and is America's oldest national engineering society. ASCE works to raise awareness of the need to maintain and modernize the nation's infrastructure using sustainable and resilient practices, advocates for increasing and optimizing investment in infrastructure, and improve engineering knowledge and competency. For more information, visit www.asce.org or www.infrastructurereportcard.org and follow us on Twitter, @ASCETweets and @ASCEGovRel.