Infrastructure and High Technology The emergence of Virginia ’s high technology sectors over the last decade has been the engine behind the Commonwealth’s economic growth. Virginia ’s high tech industry, which includes the computers, communications equipment, and semiconductors manufacturing sector, is the most dynamic of all the industrial sectors. Between 1992 and 1998, the number of technology firms in Virginia increased an average of 10.2% annually -- more than double the statewide growth of 4.4%. This rapid growth serves to underscore the need to anticipate the sector’s electrical power demands, in terms of both power quality and pace of development. Spurred by this growth, Virginia ’s future energy needs are undergoing significant change, with new dynamics. The essential elements of this change include large localized electrical power needs; significantly increased power stability, availability and reliability; increased square foot wattage of facilities; the growth of dedicated power systems; and the creation of data farms and web hotels. Computer-intensive high tech firms and data centers have stringent requirements for reliable and stable power - premium power - which will be a strong determinant of where they choose to locate. Although arranging for power quality and emergency backup are primarily company-specific concerns, the type, scale and pace of growth will be of concern to Virginia planners and promoters, particularly where it fosters the proliferation of merchant plants, which depend on the availability of sufficient natural gas and water resources. The rapid scale-up of high-tech industry presents a particularly difficult problem for development planners: companies are unwilling to ‘wait’ for as long as eighteen months, a time period shorter than the typical planning horizon for utility design and construction of power generation resources. Efforts to fast-track the permitting process also may affect the ability to integrate local and state planning efforts, with attendant adverse impacts on transportation and housing infrastructure. Alternatives such as distributed power resources and premium power parks may offer viable development alternatives, and will be explored as part of the CIMAP program.