Virginia Data Center Reform
Hidden Costs of the Cloud
We began this campaign to protect our national parks, rural area, and drinking water supply. Little did we know that this was just the beginning. The rate of data center proliferation is now putting stress on our grid and the state-wide impacts are becoming abundantly clear. Check out this video by PEC to learn more.
List of Bills we’re tracking
We will update this periodically, but things move fast! For real-time updates, go to VCN Tracker.
Don’t know who your legislator is? Find out here!
For a quick overview of the proposed bills and how they’ll help check out PEC’s handout here.
Energy Efficiency Bills
HB116 [continued to 2025] Sullivan (D) and SB192 [continued to 2025] Subramanyam (D) – Ties sales and use tax exemption to energy efficiency and procurement of renewables
HB910 [continued to 2025] Srinivasan (D) – Requires quarterly reporting on energy usage
Siting Bills
HB337 [subcommittee recommends laying on the table] Lovejoy (R) and Thomas (D) and SB284 [continued to 2025] Roem (D) – Discourages siting that impacts historic and agricultural resources and prohibits within 1 or ½ mile of a park
HB338 [crossed over to Senate] Helmer (D), Lovejoy (R), and Thomas (D) – Requires siting assessment on water usage and carbon emissions as well as impact on agriculture
HB1010 [subcommittee recommends laying on the table] Lovejoy (R) – Prohibits data centers within ¼ mile of schools, parks, or residential areas
SB285 [continued to 2025] Roem (D) – Requires disclosure of water and power usage at full build-out and site assessment to review impacts
SB288 [failed to report from committee] Roem (D) – Requires noise abatement requirements
SB289 [continued to 2025] Roem (D) – Requires additional stormwater management near parks
Undergrounding of Transmission Lines Bills
HB340 [subcommittee recommends laying on the table] Lovejoy (R) and Thomas (D), SB286 [failed to report from committee] Roem (D) – Undergrounding of transmission lines within a half mile of a national park is in the public interest
SB708 [continued to 2025] Perry (R) – Pilot project for underground transmission lines, increasing capacity from 230 kilovolts to 500 kilovolts
Industry Pays Bills
HB1288 [continued to 2025] Webert (R) – Requires public electric, water, and sewer utilities to have a separate classification for data centers
SB191 [continued to 2025] Subramanyam (D) – Requires aggregate planning of generation, transmission, and distribution and initiates a proceeding to assess the current allocation of costs and amend if found data centers are subsidized
SB664 [continued to 2025] Stuart (R) – Prohibits the costs associated with electrical infrastructure required by the industry to be allocated to all ratepayers.
Process Bills
SB667 [failed to report from committee] Stuart (R) – Removes authority for locality for accelerated permitting