Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) on Wednesday announced a deal to transform up to 65,000 acres of previously mined land in the southwest part of the state. 

The deal will involve the nonprofit Energy DELTA Lab working with Wise County officials and the landowner, Energy Transfer, to redevelop reclaimed coal mines as part of a public-private regional economic development campaign. 

“The commonwealth’s power demand is skyrocketing, and now is the time to make strategic investments in energy infrastructure to meet our growing needs,” Youngkin said. “This agreement will make Virginia energy more reliable, affordable and clean while transforming Southwest Virginia into a hub for innovation.” 

Energy Transfer’s land is managed by Penn Virginia Operating Co. and includes ownership of surface and subsurface rights, largely in Wise County, which borders Kentucky. 

The Energy DELTA (Discovery, Education, Learning & Technology Accelerator) Lab was formally launched after the release of the 2022 Virginia Energy Plan to diversify Southwest Virginia’s economy. The lab is a collaboration between energy companies including the state’s two main investor-owned utilities (Dominion Energy and American Electric Power’s Appalachian Power), the business development initiative InvestSWVA, the Southwest Virginia Energy Research and Development Authority, and the Virginia Department of Energy. 

The nonprofit lab is working to improve energy security and reliability while accelerating the commercialization and deployment of new technologies. It has a broad portfolio of projects that it could redevelop the old coal mines with including solar, wind, hydrogen, energy storage, pumped-storage hydro and building energy-efficient data centers. Overall it is considering more than a dozen projects that altogether represent more than $8.25 billion in potential investment from private capital. 

The deal with Energy Transfer to redevelop the huge tracts of land in Wise County won support from both sides of the political spectrum, with Virginia’s U.S. senators, Mark Warner and Tim Kaine (both Democrats), releasing a joint statement. 

“We have worked tirelessly for years to bring economic diversity to Southwest Virginia and were glad to secure funding for both Energy DELTA Lab and abandoned mine reclamation in last year’s government funding bill,” the senators said. “We are excited that this agreement between Energy Transfer and Energy DELTA Lab will pave the way for new energy developments on repurposed mined lands, serving as a market-driven solution to ensure Virginia’s energy security.” 

One of the advisers to the lab also welcomed the deal with Energy Transfer. 

“Private-sector leadership from Energy Transfer and Penn Virginia is critical to our long-term development strategy in Southwest Virginia’s coalfields,” said Will Payne, managing partner of Coalfield Strategies. “By creating multipurpose, energy-ready sites, we are addressing industry demand for co-locating significant power generation assets with robust power users, including data centers.”