Read more about the bills mentioned in this story — or any other legislation in the 2025 General Assembly session — at https://lis.virginia.gov/.
The growth of data centers in Virginia has gone largely unchecked for years, leading to public concerns about energy and water consumption, land use and location, among other issues.
A bipartisan group of state legislators on Tuesday discussed a set of bills that approach data center proliferation from multiple angles.
Sen. Russet Perry, D-Loudoun County, and Sen. Danica Roem, D-Manassas, joined five House members — Del. Michael Webert, R-Fauquier County; Del. Michelle Maldonado, D-Manassas; Del. Shelly Simonds, D-Newport News; Del. Josh Thomas, D-Prince William County; and Del. Rip Sullivan Jr., D-Fairfax County — in a Richmond news conference to discuss their legislation.
It rests on what the lawmakers called “four pillars”: protecting families and businesses who live near data centers, enhancing the companies’ transparency, managing resources responsibly and providing incentives for energy efficiency.
“These are the essential steps to ensuring that data center growth aligns with Virginia’s long-term interests,” Perry said in remarks at the Virginia Assembly Building. “Each of these measures can stand alone, but together, they represent a comprehensive framework to ensure economic development while also safeguarding our natural resources and ensuring fairness for all Virginians.”
The bills’ fates are not clear, should they get to Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s desk. Youngkin, in his State of the Commonwealth Address on Monday, said that control over data centers should rest with individual localities.
He said that data centers support 74,000 jobs, account for $9.1 billion of the state’s gross domestic product and generate billions of dollars for education, public safety and other local services.
“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 in the address. “Different communities will make different decisions on data centers, but these must be their decisions. And Richmond should not stop them from capitalizing on these incredible economic opportunities.”
Youngkin spokesman Christian Martinez said via email after the news conference that the governor will review any legislation that comes to his desk.
Data centers are large, warehouse-like buildings that house computers and networking equipment used to store, back up, process and share digital information. They are more prevalent in Northern Virginia, specifically Loudoun County and Prince William County, than anywhere else in the world.
In recent years, developers have sought to place them outside that region. Mecklenburg County is already home to a Microsoft data center campus. Pittsylvania County officials have approved one for Ringgold, with a second one proposed for another area of the county. Both of those projects have been subject to zoning considerations.
The Appomattox County Economic Development Authority recently signed a contract with a developer that plans to build one in that county’s industrial park, which was already zoned for data centers.
Some legislators and citizens say that energy consumption, the need for water to cool the data servers, land use and location are among the problems that the proliferation of data centers presents.
Bills filed this session address issues including zoning, water use, energy costs and clean energy investments, siting and noise abatement.
Not everyone who sponsored a bill was present for the news conference on a busy legislative day. The following are among the bills introduced this session.
Managing demand for water and electricity
- Sen. Richard Stuart, R-King George, carried SB 899, addressing water use estimates. It would allow zoning ordinances to require data center developers to submit estimates of their water use, and authorize localities to consider water use in rezoning and special use permit requests from developers.
- Stuart’s SB 1243 addresses electric utilities. It would protect other customers from the cost of any construction or extension that serves a data center.
- Roem sponsored SB 1047. It would require entities with an annual energy demand of at least 25 megawatts to work with large electric utilities to conserve or shift electricity use in response to demands on the power grid. The State Corporation Commission would approve the so-called demand response programs by the beginning of next year.
- Perry’s SB 960 would direct the SCC to determine this year if electric utility customers who are not classified as data centers are unreasonably subsidizing data centers’ costs. The commission would then make rules to “eliminate or minimize” such subsidies.
- Maldonado’s HB 2101 is a companion to Perry’s bill.
- Thomas carried a bill that involves the SCC, as well. His HB 2027 proposes that developers who plan facilities that would use at least 25 megawatts obtain a certificate of operation from the commission. The certificate would hinge on such factors as whether there is sufficient electric infrastructure. It would include a public hearing.
- Del. Keith Hodges, R-Middlesex County, sponsored HB 2377, which focuses on data center water usage within localities’ comprehensive plans. It would require prioritizing and evaluating alternative methods of cooling — including air cooling, geothermal cooling or other technology that minimizes water usage. Such methods should be “thoroughly considered” before data centers or other uses that require water for cooling are approved.
- Simonds introduced HB 2035 to establish a statewide clearinghouse related to water and energy usage. Data center developers would have to submit such information to the Department of Environmental Quality by May 1, 2026, and quarterly after that, and the DEQ would have to build out a publicly accessible website to house the information. Data centers or other “high energy facilities” would pay an annual fee to cover the online clearinghouse’s costs.
Setting limits on locations
- Roem introduced SB 1045 to require data centers on or after July 1 to be on property that local ordinances classify for industrial use. Her SB 1046 focuses on noise abatement requirements and would require two neighborhood meetings.
- Thomas introduced several other bills, including HB 1601, which would require a site assessment before approving a new data center. Such assessments would examine what effect the noise would have on homes and schools within 500 feet of the proposed facility, as well as its effect on nearby water, agricultural resources, parks, historic sites or forestland.
- His HB 2026 would require localities to review and amend existing data-center zoning laws to designate them as industrial uses for zoning purposes and adjust maps to mitigate impacts of noise and other factors on nearby residences.
- Del. Ian Lovejoy, R-Manassas, introduced HB 1984, meant to keep data center campuses at least a quarter-mile from parks, schools or residential zones.
Addressing tax issues
Two bills — one from Sullivan, the other from Sen. Creigh Deeds, D-Charlottesville — address the sales and use tax exemption the state offers for qualifying computer equipment that data centers buy.
- Deeds’ SB 1196 would require operators to show that their facilities meet energy efficiency standards and that they will commit to carbon-free or other non-carbon emitting renewable sources for 90% of their electricity requirements by 2028.
- Sullivan sponsored HB 2578. That bill would require operators to buy “a certain percentage” of their annual electric load from clean resources by July 2030, among other measures, to continue qualifying for the sales tax relief.
Advocates and opponents respond
The Data Center Coalition is the primary group representing the industry in Richmond. It released a written statement after the news conference, responding to some of the legislation. It cited a recent study by the state’s Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission, saying it “fundamentally validates Virginia’s leadership in attracting and nurturing the data center industry over the past 15 years and the extraordinary contributions the industry makes to Virginia’s economy and local communities.”
The coalition is reviewing the legislative proposals, “some of which reflect JLARC’s recommendations and findings,” Josh Levi, the coalition’s president, wrote in the statement. “We look forward to engaging with legislators during the 2025 session to ensure continued responsible growth of this essential industry.”
Bill Wright, an activist in Prince William County, said he is not against data centers, but he would like to see them be more transparent with what they are doing and would like the General Assembly to make sure they are located responsibly.
He said he doesn’t trust local governments to hold developers to account. He lives next to the Prince William Digital Gateway, which the county approved to house what news accounts describe as up to 37 data centers.
“I think what’s being proposed by most of the legislation is not stopping things in their tracks, but insisting on things like disclosure, transparency, prudent guardrails,” Wright said. “The Prince William Digital Gateway … is sandwiched between Manassas National Battlefield Park, Conway Robinson State Forest and my neighborhood, which is a large retirement community.
“That is the absolute worst place you could imagine. To site a data center, I think the only thing we left out is a children’s hospital. But the local community shoves it through anyway, and they waive all kinds of prudent land-use planning simply because they’re intoxicated by the tax revenue.”
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Correction 9:55 a.m. Jan. 15: Gov. Glenn Youngkin said that data centers account for $9.1 billion of the state’s gross domestic product. The dollar amount was incorrect in an earlier version of this story.
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