Governor signs Data Center Accountability Framework

Governor Abigail Spanberger unveiled Virginia’s new Data Center Accountability Framework — the most comprehensive and aggressive data center accountability effort in the country.

The Governor’s Framework is a detailed, wide-ranging plan for the Commonwealth to give communities transparent information and a voice in local approval, protect Virginians from higher energy bills, and enforce the strongest environmental standards for data centers in the nation. The Governor also signed Executive Order 22 to immediately implement many of the core pieces of her Data Center Accountability Framework and create Virginia’s new AI Task Force to address growing concerns and risks posed by the rapid development of artificial intelligence — including workforce displacement, data privacy, and cybersecurity.

Read below for Governor Spanberger’s full remarks as delivered:

Good morning. It is a very exciting day in the Commonwealth of Virginia, because today we are announcing the most comprehensive and aggressive data center accountability framework in the country.

I have said many times that Virginia should be leading the nation in setting the highest standards for this industry. And today, we are doing just that.

Virginia’s Data Center Accountability Framework is about delivering a better deal for Virginians.

But it’s also about holding data center companies, developers, and operators accountable.

This is an incredibly important conversation. Because right now, so many of my fellow Virginians are rightfully concerned about the impact data centers are having on their energy bills.

They’re rightfully concerned about how so many of these projects have been secretive, devoid of any real transparency.

They’re rightfully concerned about the long-term impact these projects have on clean air and clean water.

They’re concerned about how rapidly this industry has grown with the rise of artificial intelligence.

I want everyone who is feeling this way to know that I hear your concerns, I understand them, and I share them.

That’s why I’m taking executive action today and laying out what will be Virginia’s plan moving forward.

The Data Center Accountability Framework is a thorough, wide-ranging plan that includes Executive Order 22 — which I will be signing in just a few moments, as well as directives to various state agencies that will be effective immediately.

It also includes proposed legislation for the 2027 General Assembly session. The legislature has done so much to raise this issue in the last few months, and I look forward to working with them to codify parts of this plan into Virginia law.

At the end of the day, we all want the same thing: we want Virginia to be a national leader in data center accountability.

I am making this announcement because we are at an inflection point with this technology.

This industry has been rapidly expanding in the last few years without a clear or coordinated plan to address the impacts on Virginians — on their electric bills, their water, their land, their air, or their quality of life.

These impacts are not hypothetical or far off into the future. Virginians are feeling them right now, day in and day out — which is why the need for action is so urgent, and why the state must lead with a clear, detailed, comprehensive plan.

Because while many leaders are talking about data centers — like the President who recently criticized communities that have concerns — what we really need are high standards and regulations.

So, what’s in the plan?

The policies put forth in this Framework are the highest standards in America, and they’re organized around five core requirements:

1. Increasing Transparency

2. Strengthening Environmental Protections

3. Lowering Energy Costs

4. Bolstering our Clean Energy Economy

5. Delivering a Better Deal for Virginia Workers

I want to take a moment to give you an overview.

First and foremost: Virginia is putting a stop to the secrecy this industry so often relies on.

And we’re doing that by increasing transparency and giving communities a much more significant voice in the process.

Part of that means banning non-disclosure agreements for commercial projects, because oftentimes they keep neighbors in the dark about what’s being planned in their backyards.

So many of the decisions being made are done behind closed doors, only to have sprawling complexes pop up seemingly out of nowhere. Communities need a greater voice.

That’s why we are also now requiring community benefits agreements so residents see real, tangible benefits from projects built near their homes. Not hypothetical; a concrete list of benefits.

And we’re getting rid of by-right approval and requiring local permit approvals for any data center above 25MW — so that you know what’s being proposed in your community, and where.

Virginia residents need to be heard. And in so many cases, that simply hasn’t been happening — because these corporations haven’t been required to listen.

The second requirement has to do with strengthening environmental protections.

Our air, our water, our natural resources and public health — they cannot and will not be afterthoughts.

That is why our Accountability Framework has several new, higher standards for emissions, water usage, noise pollution, and land use.

And we’ll create pathways for existing data centers to retrofit their facilities.

Virginia’s Secretary of Natural and Historic Resources David Bulova will be speaking more in-depth about this in a minute.

Third: lower energy costs.

Virginia families and small businesses should not foot the bill for the data center industry.

It is no exaggeration to say that a lot of these companies are among the biggest, wealthiest corporations in the world. And they will pay their fair share.

Not only that, but they will be paying the FULL COST of the infrastructure needed solely because of their operations.

This has been a big part of my energy affordability platform since last summer — when I was still running for this office.

Data centers cannot drive up energy costs for everyone else in Virginia. Period.

This Accountability Framework has several new requirements that will make sure that is the case.

Our fourth requirement is bolstering our clean energy economy and grid reliability.

Virginia has ambitious clean energy goals, and data center development cannot come at the expense of those goals.

That’s why we’ll prioritize grid access for data centers that source clean energy five years faster than the Clean Economy Act and reduce emissions from backup generators by 60%.

We’re also going to limit the amount of electricity these facilities can generate from on-site natural gas – an important step that no other state has taken action on yet.

We know that clean energy is more affordable and more reliable for our electric grid.

Virginia’s Chief Energy Officer Josephus Allmond will be speaking to this as well.

Finally, we will deliver a better deal for Virginia workers.

Virginians need access to good, local jobs.

That’s why this Framework prioritizes the training and hiring of local workers, both for construction and long-term employment.

We’re also prioritizing Virginia-made, sustainable materials and technology in data-center construction and grid infrastructure — including locally sourced wood products, mass timber, batteries, and electrical equipment.

And we are finally prohibiting future data center projects from taking advantage of Virginia’s fast-tracked permitting process on large business-ready sites. This was a massive loophole, and we are changing that policy today.

Those are the five high-level principles.

But in addition to everything I just outlined, my administration is also taking action to respond to the risks being posed to Virginians by the rapid development of AI technology.

As Governor, I need to do everything in my power to make sure that the technology around Artificial Intelligence is developed safely and responsibly.

That is why today’s Executive Order will also create Virginia’s AI Task Force.

This Task Force will be led by Virginia’s Chief Transformation Officer Dave Wilkinson, Counsel to the Governor Matt McGuire, and Secretary of Administration Traci DeShazor.

The Task Force will work to develop policy and legislative proposals to address and regulate several of the risks posed by AI — including workforce displacement, data privacy, and cybersecurity.

Virginia’s Secretary of Administration, Traci DeShazor, will be speaking more to the goals of this task force and the actions the state is taking on cybersecurity.

We simply aren’t sure if the federal government is going to act on this – though it is my hope that they move forward with new guardrails as soon as possible.

The truth is: states can address only so much when it comes to the rise of AI, but one way we can make an impact here in Virginia is to lead on data center accountability. That’s exactly what we’re doing today.

And here is what I want every Virginian to understand: this is not a temporary fix. We are not scrambling to figure out what to do tomorrow.

This is a new way forward for how this industry does business in the Commonwealth.

Make no mistake about it: These standards are high.

And moving forward, it’s pretty simple: if you don’t want to meet Virginia’s high standards, then Virginia isn’t the place for you.

This is the most comprehensive data center accountability framework in America. Virginia is leading the way.

Because this Framework will result in more clean energy, more direct benefits for communities, less noise pollution, less air pollution, less water used, and good local jobs.

Today’s announcement is the product of months of work by my team, my cabinet secretaries, and various state agencies in collaboration with many of the organizations standing with us today.

And it builds on the work we started in the earliest days of my administration.

This is especially true when talking about what we’ve been able to accomplish with our partners in the General Assembly in the first few months of my administration.

So many of the data center accountability bills I was proud to sign had bipartisan support, and they reflected a thoughtful approach.

In our bipartisan budget, Virginia created a first-of-its-kind energy consumption tax on data centers.

We are also requiring these facilities to pay for their own power infrastructure instead of passing the cost to your utility bill; we’ve set new standards for water use, air emissions, and noise.

And we have given localities new tools to weigh what a data center means for the homes, schools, water, and farmland around it.

Virginia’s Data Center Accountability Framework — the executive action I am announcing this morning — builds directly on that foundation.

Starting today, this industry no longer has carte blanche to play by their own rules in Virginia.

Because we are at an inflection point, and I know a lot of people are worried about what comes next.

Through this Executive Action, and through the bills we plan to pass in next year’s legislative session, in Virginia, what comes next is accountability. Period.

Accountability for your energy bill; accountability for your air and water; accountability for people in communities all across this Commonwealth.