The Pulse
Virginia Puts AI and Data Centers Under State Oversight
Gov. Abigail Spanberger unveiled Virginia’s Data Center Accountability Framework and signed Executive Order 22, placing new emphasis on transparency, energy costs, environmental protections, local review and workforce policy.
AI.info Team ·
Virginia is tightening control over the infrastructure supporting artificial intelligence even as Gov. Abigail Spanberger says the Commonwealth must remain a leader in the technology. On September 18, 2026, Spanberger unveiled a statewide Data Center Accountability Framework and signed Executive Order 22, linking data center approvals to energy affordability, environmental protections, local participation and workforce policy.
The move puts two political demands in direct tension: Virginia wants the investment and computing capacity associated with AI, but state officials now say developers must account for their effect on electricity bills, water, land, air quality and nearby communities. The governor’s office describes the framework as the country’s most comprehensive data center accountability effort. Environmental groups welcomed the announcement, while the framework’s broader requirements will depend in part on legislation proposed for the 2027 General Assembly session.
“In the years before I took office, data centers came to Virginia and the Commonwealth did not have a clear or coordinated plan to address their impacts on Virginians — on their electric bills, their water, their land, their air, or their quality of life,” Spanberger said in the announcement. “That changes today.” — Abigail Spanberger, Governor of Virginia
Executive Order 22 Moves First
The executive order puts several measures into effect immediately. Executive branch agencies, departments, boards, commissions, authorities and employees under the governor’s supervision may no longer enter into or require non-disclosure agreements for commercial data center projects, according to the governor’s announcement.
The order also directs the state to create an initial Data Center Planning and Community Engagement Toolkit for local governments, speed work on data center noise regulations and conduct a review of diesel and other backup-generation operations. The stated aim is to give communities earlier access to information and more influence over projects that can affect nearby homes, schools, roads and utilities.
Executive Order 22 also creates Virginia’s Artificial Intelligence Task Force. Its stated areas of concern include workforce displacement, data privacy and cybersecurity, placing social and operational risks from AI inside the same state policy effort as the physical infrastructure used to run AI systems.
Local Approval Would Replace By-Right Siting
The framework proposes eliminating by-right approval for data centers and requiring local approval for any facility using more than 25 megawatts of power. It also calls for stronger tools that local governments can use when negotiating community agreements with developers, an end to state subsidies for data centers in site-development programs and the removal of future large facilities from Virginia’s fast-track permitting process.
Virginia law already gives localities new review duties for high-energy-use facilities. Under the updated Code of Virginia, a facility that is expected to require at least 100 megawatts must undergo a site assessment before a rezoning, special exception or special-use permit can be approved. The assessment must examine sound effects on residences and schools within 500 feet, while localities may also review impacts on water, agriculture, parks, historic sites and forestland.
The statute preserves the State Corporation Commission’s authority over utility regulation. Local assessments do not transfer or replace the commission’s jurisdiction, meaning siting review and electric-system oversight remain separate parts of the process.
Energy Costs and Backup Power Move to the Center
The framework asks utilities to assign data centers a more equitable share of generation, transmission and distribution costs. It also calls for stronger financial commitments from developers to reduce the risk that speculative projects reserve land, grid capacity and public infrastructure without proceeding.
Those proposals build on steps Virginia has already taken. Earlier this year, the governor urged the State Corporation Commission to require data centers to cover transmission infrastructure built exclusively for their operations. The governor’s office said the decision could save households, small businesses and other ratepayers hundreds of millions of dollars.
The new plan also seeks to limit on-site natural-gas generation, reduce emissions from backup generators and prioritize grid access for facilities that invest in clean energy. It calls for standards covering energy efficiency, water use, land impacts and backup power, along with stronger enforcement when facilities violate water-use requirements.
“If Virginia is going to lead in artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies, we must build the energy, infrastructure, workforce, and safeguards to do it right — without forcing families and small businesses to pay the price,” Delegate Cliff Hayes said in the governor’s release.
Five Conditions for Data Center Growth
The framework organizes its policy around five requirements: transparent engagement with communities, environmental protection, lower energy costs for Virginians, support for clean energy and grid reliability, and a better deal for workers.
Worker-focused provisions include prioritizing local hiring, encouraging workforce-training goals, giving Virginia businesses preference in procurement and contracting, supporting apprenticeship programs and promoting responsible contractor standards. The plan also calls for project labor agreements where possible and infrastructure improvements tied to local economic needs.
Environmental groups backed the direction of travel. Connor Kish, director of the Sierra Club Virginia Chapter, said the organization supported the executive order and proposed policy platform, calling it the strongest executive action Virginia had taken on the environmental impacts of data centers. Jay Ford, Virginia policy manager for the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, said the framework could help address the effects of unchecked data center growth on Virginia’s waters and lands. Nate Benforado, a senior attorney at the Southern Environmental Law Center, called the announcement promising and ambitious.
The AI Task Force Now Has a State Mandate
Virginia’s AI task force will examine risks that extend beyond the facilities consuming the electricity. The governor’s office identifies job displacement, privacy and cybersecurity as initial concerns, while Delegate Hayes said the group should help ensure that powerful systems are tested, verified and deployed responsibly.
The framework does not create a permanent AI regulator on September 18. Instead, Executive Order 22 establishes the task force and begins administrative work while the administration prepares additional proposals for lawmakers. The data center provisions that require statutory changes will face the 2027 General Assembly.
Virginia’s next test is therefore practical rather than rhetorical: whether the state can turn disclosure rules, local review, utility cost allocation and AI oversight into enforceable decisions before new projects secure approval. The first immediate changes are the non-disclosure agreement ban, the community-planning toolkit, the noise-rule work and the review of backup generation; the larger framework still awaits legislative action.