Here’s some of the reaction to Gov. Abigail Spanberger’s data center announcement:
From legislators:
Lucas: Governor ‘still ignoring the fire’
“The Governor is finally feeling the heat but still ignoring the fire. Her proposal does not end the $2 billion in sales tax exemptions provided to data centers.”
— Senate Finance Committee chair Louise Lucas, D-Portsmouth
House Democrats: ‘A step in the right direction’
“Governor Spanberger’s Data Center Accountability Framework is a step in the right direction.”
— Virginia House Democratic Caucus
Kilgore: ‘Internally contradictory’
“Everyone recognizes the need for changes in how Virginia engages with data centers. But the Governor’s proposal is internally contradictory and raises serious questions about whether it can actually work. It ‘encourages’ data centers to bring their own power, while proposing to sharply limit on-site natural gas and further restrict backup generation, even as those same facilities are expected to provide grid support and reduce their demand when the system is under stress. And if they fail to meet the Governor’s preferred energy standards, they could face higher taxes. That leaves one basic question unanswered: what reliable, dispatchable source of power is supposed to fill the gap? That’s not a political question: it’s how the grid works.”
— House Minority Leader Terry Kilgore, R-Scott County
From business groups:
Data Center Coalition: ‘We hope implementation will be based in fact and evidence’
“We await further details on how these policy goals will be implemented by Governor Spanberger and the General Assembly, and are ready to engage with policymakers to ensure workable, balanced policies that keep Virginia competitive and honor prior commitments by the Commonwealth and its localities. Virginia’s data center industry provides transformative economic benefits to the families whose livelihoods are connected to it, and directly to the communities hosting these facilities as well as the robust supply chain of manufacturers and other businesses that support it. If done right, there is a path for continued job creation, responsible investment, and clean energy deployment that protects ratepayers and delivers benefits for families and communities. However, significant and abrupt policy changes without meaningful stakeholder engagement could prove unworkable and jeopardize the real tangible benefits this industry can create. We hope the implementation of this process will be based in fact and evidence, and account for the tens of thousands of jobs and billions of dollars of economic activity connected to digital infrastructure.”
— Nicole Riley, Director of Government Affairs, Data Center Coalition
Virginia Chamber: Sales tax exemption ‘remains an essential pillar’
“The economic impact of Virginia’s data centers must be at the forefront of policy discussions: 74,000 jobs, $9.1 billion in economic output, and $5.34 billion of state and local tax revenue. Maintaining the sales and use tax exemption for data center equipment remains an essential pillar of Virginia’s economic competitiveness. Any effort to weaken it, particularly in addition to the new restrictions under consideration, would further compound the risk to Virginia’s reputation as a top state for business. “
— Virginia Chamber
“Confidentiality is an essential component of how economic development works across the country. Prohibiting confidential discussions regarding data centers from taking place signals to every business in every industry that Virginia can no longer be trusted to keep sensitive location and expansion decisions private, and many of these businesses will respond by taking those decisions to a state that can.”
— Brad Hall, president and CEO of Virginia Chamber
From environmental groups:
Chesapeake Climate Action Network: ‘We need a pause’
“We appreciate that the Governor’s platform takes several major steps forward, but also that communities facing data center development are in crisis right now. We need a pause on data center approvals until water-tight environmental and community protections are on the books and being enforced. Scientists are begging policymakers to take decisive action yesterday to stop runaway climate change, while the Trump Administration moves to allow limitless pollution. We must stop the madness and issue an immediate pause on approvals until these protections – and more – are fully implemented.”
– Victoria Higgins, Virginia Director of Chesapeake Climate Action Network
Piedmont Environmental Council: ‘Does not address the immediacy of this crisis’
“We appreciate the Administration’s recognition of data centers’ harmful impacts on Virginians. There are some positive elements in the framework, but it does not address the immediacy of this crisis or bring adequate oversight and accountability. It largely addresses standards on new data centers and does not deal with what’s already built and in the pipeline, along with the ongoing impacts piling up in communities now.
“A moratorium – a pause on all development and new applications – should be the first step so we can fully address the many impacts on the state and residents.
“The Governor’s approach is an ambitious framework to develop a plan, most of which is subject to legislation, regulation, budget and actions of localities and the private sector. It does not address the continued connection of data centers to the grid, despite inadequate power and the many impacts on air quality, water supply, electric bills, and people and communities. Not to mention the hundreds of miles of proposed transmission lines, solely to support data centers, that threaten our natural and historic resources, wildlife habitat, and will take private lands by eminent domain across the state.”
“ . . . Communities need a pause and real protection, not just a framework to guide the 2027 legislative process. If the Governor is really serious about this, then call a special session of the General Assembly and deal with this now.”
— Piedmont Environmental Council
Southwest Virginia Data Center Alliance: ‘It is not enough’
“Southwest Virginia Data Center Transparency Alliance welcomes Gov. Abigail Spanberger’s announcement today of Virginia’s new Data Center Accountability Framework. It includes important measures to regulate existing data centers. Yet it is not enough and there is still much work to do . . . The data center sales and use tax exemption continues to take take billions out of our pockets. We still do not have total assurance that big tech will pay their fair share of the cost of their developments.
“The executive order does not do anything to stop the Google campus at Greenfield, the suspected sale of Wood Haven to Meta that was just approved by the Western Virginia Regional Industrial Facility Authority, and other projects already in motion in Wythe, Pulaski, Carroll, Pittsylvania, and other counties, that were approved without residents’ knowledge or consent.”
— Southwest Virginia Data Center Transparency Alliance
Appalachian Voices: “Comprehensive”
“Governor Spanberger’s approach is comprehensive – her set of solutions recognizes the scale and breadth of the impacts Virginians are facing from data centers and the rush to build more of them. Her platform centers community well being and self-determination and prioritizes the need for guardrails on the industry. We look forward to working with the governor and the General Assembly to support, strengthen, enact and enforce these critical protections.”
— Appalachian Voices Executive Director Tom Cormons
Southern Environmental Law Center: ‘Promising and ambitious’
“This is a promising and ambitious announcement. . . . I am eager to work with her and her entire team, and the General Assembly, to sort through the details, make this a reality, and pass a strong package of reforms.”
– SELC Senior Attorney Nate Benforado
From policy groups that deal with energy:
Clean Virginia: ‘Meaningful step’ but wants a moratorium
“Governor Spanberger’s data center accountability framework is a meaningful step forward in addressing the impact of Virginia’s unchecked data center growth. The real test will come in the months ahead as the Governor works with the legislature to flesh out details on who pays, who bears risk, and what conditions must be met for continued data center development. Clean Virginia supports a pause on further data center development while these details are worked out and encourages Governor Spanberger to do the same.”
– Clean Virginia executive director Brennan Gilmore
Jefferson Forum: Spanberger’s plan ‘could replace predictable rules with open-ended political bargaining’
“Spanberger wants data centers to supply power while restricting their options for supplying it. . . . Her announcement proposes limiting on-site natural-gas generation and continues to push for expensive and weather-dependent renewable energy. Her restrictions require an explanation of what will replace on site gas generation, when it will be available, and at what cost . . .
“The proposed data center approval changes could replace predictable rules with open-ended political bargaining. Her announced elimination of by-right approval above 25 MW and requirement for community-benefit agreements raise practical questions: What benefits qualify? Who negotiates them? What limits apply? Are projects already underway protected? Public participation is appropriate, but businesses need clear standards and government must honor commitments on which investments were made. Eliminating by right approvals will open the door to greater political deal making and the concomitant political donations perceived necessary to gain such approval . . .
“The Governor is not the SCC nor the General Assembly. An executive order cannot substitute for the State Corporation Commission’s legally required authorization . . The SCC approves generation projects, not the Governor. Any attempt to dictate utility service priorities, cost allocations or generation approvals must respect that authority. The critical question is what legal authority the administration will use to implement its announced natural-gas limits and clean-energy preferences — and whether those measures preserve the SCC’s independent judgment on affordability and reliability.”
— The Jefferson Forum, a conservative, Virginia-based think tank
