Residents from eight ZIP codes packed a room in Charles E. Beatley, Jr. Central Library Saturday (Aug. 15) to discuss concerns with the Plaza 500 data center plans just outside Alexandria city limits.
The Alexandria People’s Assembly, an advocacy group formerly known as PLTI of Alexandria that seeks to support marginalized people, organized the community forum.
A solar panel installation program championed by Virginia’s governor is gaining traction in Alexandria and other areas of the state as homeowners look for ways to address rising electricity costs.
Switch Together, a bulk purchasing initiative to connect residents to solar installers, was recently expanded from Northern Virginia to other parts of the state. It was previously only open in Fairfax and Arlington counties, with Alexandria joining the roster last summer.
Drought conditions in Alexandria and other parts of Virginia have prompted the city’s drinking water utility to ask customers to voluntarily conserve water.
Virginia American Water issued the notice to residential customers amid the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality’s recent drought warning advisories. The utility says the guidance only applies to non-essential residential usage, not businesses or industries.
Expect work crews at six intersections near Alexandria’s waterfront starting next week.
The city will conduct utility investigations from Monday, July 13 to Friday, July 24 as part of the Waterfront Flood Mitigation Project.
As Alexandria pursues stormwater capacity projects to combat flooding in the north end, its drinking water utility will begin water line relocation in early July.
During the week of July 6, Virginia American Water will start work to relocate water service lines and parts of existing 6-inch and 12-inch ductile iron pipe. The work will happen on W. Reed Avenue from Mount Vernon Avenue to Commonwealth Avenue.
Virginia American Water, the drinking water utility for Alexandria, has agreed to a settlement that sets a lower rate increase than originally proposed.
The June 5 settlement with the State Corporation Commission, City of Alexandria, City of Hopewell and Prince George County allows Virginia American Water to increase its revenues by $16 million annually, which is less than the $22 million the utility requested.
A drought watch with a call for voluntary water conservation has been issued for the D.C. region today (June 3).
The Metropolitan Council of Governments Drought Coordination Committee recommended the drought watch, which increases coordination, communications and monitoring of the water supply. Precipitation, groundwater levels, streamflow and reservoir levels are factors in COG’s decision to declare a drought watch.
This story was updated to clarify that Virginia American Water provides drinking water services, and AlexRenew provides wastewater services in Alexandria.
Alexandria is in the midst of another water fight over a proposed rate increase by drinking water utility Virginia American Water.
A bill allowing church-based by-right housing development and several other laws passed during the 2026 Virginia General Assembly will require or allow local action, according to a presentation to Alexandria City Council last week (May 12).
Wendy Ginsberg, the city’s legislative director, provided an update on key bills the city has been tracking or will be impacted by during City Council’s May 12 meeting. Virginia is a Dillon Rule state, which means localities can only use authority granted through state law.
NextEra Energy is seeking to acquire Dominion Energy in an all-stock deal valued at about $67 billion, creating a massive power company as the energy needs of artificial intelligence drive demand higher in the U.S.
It is one of the biggest proposed mergers so far this year and would create the world’s biggest regulated electric utility business by market capitalization, the companies said on Monday.
Proposed changes to the base charge for Alexandria’s wastewater customers will be addressed at a public hearing Saturday (May 16).
AlexRenew, which operates the city’s wastewater service, is proposing updates to how its base charge is calculated. The utility proposes calculating the base charge using the monthly water use of a typical household, rather than the current method based on a customer’s meter size. For residential customers, water use of 3,500 gallons would equal one unit. For commercial customers, average usage volume would be converted into units relative to residential customers’ usage to set the base charge.
