By james art 
Efforts by Virginia lawmakers to revive data centers have met with mixed success. A bill that would have increased state regulatory review of data centers died in General Assembly committees earlier this month, while another that would provide reviews of noise and ground sites has advanced.
Northern Virginia has more data centers than anywhere else in the world, and the industry is growing rapidly across the country.
A report released last month by the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Committee highlighted the environmental and energy costs associated with data centers. If the industry continues to grow unabated, the nonpartisan report predicts that the nation’s energy use is expected to double in the next 10 years, largely driven by data centers. That’s a change from the previous decade, when demand was driven mostly by improved energy efficiency that offset the state’s population growth, according to the report.
The report makes clear that building enough energy infrastructure to meet this demand through new solar facilities, wind generation, natural gas plants and increased transmission capacity would be “very difficult.”
Some Virginia lawmakers say the unprecedented growth is unsustainable and will have negative financial and environmental impacts. Earlier this month, a bipartisan group of lawmakers hosted a press conference promoting a slate of legislation that would seek to regulate data centers based on factors such as noise control and energy use.
“Let me be clear, we are not here today to talk about reform because there are no laws to reform,” said state Sen. Russ Perry, D-Leesburg. “The data center industry has largely grown unchecked. Today we are here to present a framework for responsible growth. “
Energy Resident bills could increase by $37 a month through 2040, Perry said. In response, she sponsored legislation with state Sen. Richard Stewart, R-Montross, that would direct the State Corporation Commission to determine whether residents and businesses are subsidizing data centers and, if so, to do what they can to mitigate those cost burdens. That bill and its counterpart in the House have been referred to the Labor and Commerce Committees.
Other lawmakers have proposed bills they say would increase data center transparency. Rep. Shelly Simonds, D-Newport News, is sponsoring a bill that would create a state clearinghouse by July 2026. for data on energy, water use and emissions from high-energy facilities such as data centers.
“Increasingly over the last year, I’ve had constituents come to me and say, ‘How much energy are these data centers really using?’ How much more energy will we need in the future? “, she said at the same press conference.
That bill and its Senate counterpart also await a committee vote.
Another bill by Del. Rep. Josh Thomas, D-Gainesville, which would require data centers to undergo a site assessment that would examine the impact of noise on schools and residential areas, as well as analyze the impact on farmland and forests, advanced to the full-house split 13-9 vote. That bill was supported by a broad coalition of environmental, agriculture and forestry groups, but was opposed during a public comment period by the data center and economic development advocates.
Vince Barnett with the Virginia Economic Development Partnership voiced his opposition during a public comment period, citing concerns about Virginia’s economic competitiveness and the impact on other industries such as semiconductor manufacturing and electric vehicles.
“The new mandates could cast doubt in the market about our ability to bring projects online in a timely manner,” he said. “It could also be presented to the market that we’re not supporting other high-energy-use facilities outside of data centers.”
Another bill from Thomas, calling for a state regulatory review that would include environmental and economic assessments before approving high-use facilities like data centers, died in a subcommittee on Jan. 16. The bill, voted 6-0, would have required the state Corporation Commission to approve the operations.
Meanwhile, in his State of the Commonwealth address earlier in January, Gov. Glenn Youngkin urged lawmakers to keep Virginia’s data center capital of the world.
“We also need to make sure that Richmond is doing what it takes to support that goal,” he said. “Different communities will make different data center decisions, but those should be their decisions, and Richmond should not stop them from taking advantage of these incredible economic opportunities.”
A House subcommittee voted Jan. 5-3 to table legislation from Del. Thomas Garrett Jr., R-Goochland, that would designate only localities authority to make land-use decisions on data centers, as well as solar and wind energy .
Kate Seltzer