PEC urges pause on Virginia data center approvals, end tax

Piedmont Environmental Council (PEC) is calling on Virginia legislators to pause new data center approvals and end the sales tax exemption during the June budget negotiations.

• Main action: PEC urges the General Assembly and Governor Spanberger to end the annual sales tax exemption for data centers and pause approvals of new data center projects so the state can plan for 51 GW of approved data center demand; legislators reconvene June 18, with a June 30 budget deadline.
• Background and details: The email cites Dominion Energy’s agreement to supply 51 gigawatts, notes the tax break grew from $1.6 million in 2008 to nearly $2 billion today (~6% of Virginia’s annual revenue), references ~10 GW of operational IT load in Virginia, and points to recent pauses of tax credits in Ohio and Illinois as precedent.