Piedmont Environmental Council urges end to data center tax exemption

The Piedmont Environmental Council supports efforts to eliminate or substantially limit the sales tax credit on data center equipment in Virginia.

• Main announcement/action: The Piedmont Environmental Council urges the General Assembly and budget conferees to eliminate or substantially limit the sales tax exemption on data center equipment in order to free up revenue; the letter states the Senate proposal would generate over $1B over the biennium and cites the exemption reached $1.9 billion in FY 2025 (from a few million in 2008).
• Background and concrete details: The letter documents that Virginia is home to over 500 data centers, that Dominion Energy reports 1-2 GW of new data center requests each month and a current estimate of 70 GW demand, and asserts Dominion will need to invest over $100 billion in generation, transmission and substation infrastructure to meet backlog demand over the next ten years.