The push and pull continues in Va. over regulation of data centers
One of the few issues that has drawn bipartisan support in Richmond as the Virginia General Assembly considers legislation in its 2025 session has been the regulation of data centers.
The sprawling, windowless warehouses that hold rows of high-speed servers powering almost everything the world does on phones and computers are increasingly becoming fixtures of the American landscape.
“They can have an incredible tax, for lack of a better word, of the land use for a locality,” Democratic Del. Josh Thomas said. “Among other things, there are certainly energy concerns.”
Thomas is part of a bipartisan group of lawmakers in the General Assembly working on a series of bills that would regulate the industry, touching on issues including energy efficiency, limiting noise from the centers that might disturb surrounding communities and dealing with how to pay for the increase in the use of electricity caused directly by the proliferation of data centers.
“I would take Fauquier County as an example for what’s going on in Loudoun and Prince William (counties),” Thomas said. “Fauquier County has received very, very, very little of the economic benefits of data centers, and yet, transmission infrastructure lines run right across farmland of the people who are not receiving any of those benefits in their locality, and it’s hurting them.”
Demand for data centers ballooned in recent years due to the rapid growth of cloud computing and artificial intelligence, and local governments are competing for lucrative deals with big tech companies.
But as data centers begin to move into more densely populated areas, abutting homes, schools and parks and recreation centers, some residents are pushing back against the world’s most powerful corporations over concerns about the economic, social and environmental health of their communities.
In Northern Virginia, more than 300 data centers dot the rolling hills of the area’s westernmost counties.
However, Efforts to regulate the industry may be vetoed by Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin, who has positioned himself as a vocal advocate.
“We should continue to be the data center capital of the world and make sure Richmond is doing what is necessary to support that goal,” Youngkin said this month during his State of the Commonwealth speech. “Different communities will make different decisions on data centers but these must be their decisions.”
Youngkin said data centers alone support 74,000 jobs and generate billions of dollars in local revenue.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.