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Virginia Data Center Intel
Latest data center news, projects, power and policy across Virginia — updated daily.
Virginia · Construction & power moves · 40
full tracker →Land, power, and interconnection moves across Virginia — each traced to primary filings.
Top JUST IN — Virginia
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PJM proposes reliability standards for large-load ride-through (no docket)
Source: PJM Inside Lines · Sep 10, 2026PJM Inside Lines reports that PJM has proposed new interconnection reliability requirements for large loads, including data centers and crypto-mining facilities, to require facilities to stay connected during grid disturbances and “riding through” voltage and frequency excursions. The article says the proposal responds to a June 18 FERC order and that “PJM plans to file proposed solutions to FERC in November.”
Backed by 1 primary filing — sign in or book a call to see all sources.
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PJM, Dominion Review Large Load Transfer Event
Source: PJM Inside Lines · Aug 11, 2026PJM Inside Lines reports that PJM is reviewing changes to interconnection reliability requirements for Large Loads after a July 22 event in Virginia in which “nearly 4,000 MW of data center load trip offline unexpectedly.” The article also says FERC ordered NERC to create enforceable Reliability Standards for computational loads and that the first phase of new enforcement provisions is due Dec. 31, 2026.
Backed by 1 primary filing — sign in or book a call to see all sources.
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Opening Statement of Commissioner Christie to House Subcommittee on Energy, Climate, and Grid Security
Source: FERCFERC Commissioner Christie warned that U.S. grid reliability faces “potentially catastrophic consequences” as “unprecedented forecasts for demand increases” from “data centers, including Artificial Intelligence (AI)” collide with fast-retiring dispatchable generation and policy pressure. In PJM, he said, “PJM faces unprecedented load growth due to the proliferation of data centers,” while also noting that EPA power-plant rules could “forcibly” accelerate coal retirements and make new gas generation “extremely difficult, if not virtually impossible” to build. Christie also said the PJM interconnection queue “largely consists of intermittent generation, primarily wind and solar,” and that legal challenges are delaying needed natural-gas pipeline infrastructure.
Backed by 1 primary filing — sign in or book a call to see all sources.
Recent Virginia data center news
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The Data Center Industry’s Permission to Build
Data Center Frontier has announced the theme and agenda focus for its 2026 Trends Summit in Reston, Virginia, centered on moving from projection to execution and on earning social license for data center growth.
- The summit will take place August 4–6 at the Hyatt Regency Reston and will cover power, capital, site selection, construction, supply chains, cooling, density, commissioning, operations and community impact.
- The article also cites current industry pressure, including New York’s one-year pause on certain environmental approvals for new hyperscale data centers, Montgomery County’s 18-month permit pause, and the collapse of the Prince William Digital Gateway approvals after public opposition and litigation.
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Virginia Report Finds Groundwater Running Dry for New Data Centers
The Virginia Department of Environmental Quality has released a report concluding that major new groundwater withdrawals are not supportable under current permitting standards in Virginia’s Coastal Plain.
- The 144-page report was ordered by the General Assembly and modeled a hypothetical industrial facility withdrawing 3 million gallons per day; all modeled withdrawals failed DEQ’s technical permitting evaluation.
- DEQ found the highest sustainable withdrawal in the eastern Northern Neck was 360,000 gallons per day, while areas near the I-95 corridor were estimated at less than 30,000 gallons per day; the report says groundwater recovery has peaked and future declines are likely within 5 to 10 years if conditions continue.
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The Truth About Data Centers: What’s Really Behind Your Electricity Bill
DataBank has published an explanatory article arguing that data centers are not the main driver of rising electricity bills and highlighting grid, fuel, and infrastructure factors.
- The article says data centers do not set electricity prices; regulated utilities charge state-approved commercial or industrial rates, while deregulated markets use negotiated rates like other large businesses.
- It cites natural gas prices rising 56% in 2025, PG&E projecting data center growth could lower household bills by up to 2%, and DataBank saying its own PUE improved from 1.81 in 2020 to 1.5 by end-2025.
- It also notes Texas rates rose about 3.8% in 2025, California rates rose 2.1%, and DataBank says power infrastructure construction starts rose 21.2% in Q1 2026 and are projected to finish the year more than 30% above 2025 levels.
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Brookfield, NextEra to Develop $100B Data Center Campus at DOE’s Paducah Site, Paired With 4.6 GW of Dedicated Generation
Brookfield and NextEra Energy have announced a $100 billion plan to develop a privately funded AI data center campus at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Paducah Site in Kentucky, paired with up to 4.6 GW of dedicated generation.
- The campus is expected to be fully built out in 2032 and support up to 1.8 GW of utility capacity and more than 1.2 GW of compute load; Brookfield will lease land from DOE and develop and operate the campus.
- NextEra Energy will own and operate up to 2 GW of natural gas generation and up to 2.6 GW of BESS added in stages; the project also involves Big Rivers Electric, Jackson Purchase Energy Cooperative, and Paducah Power System, with KPSC approval still required for the power service agreement.
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Amazon Pushes Virginia to Let AI Data Centers Fund Their Own Grid Upgrades
Amazon has urged Virginia regulators to let hyperscale data center operators voluntarily fund transmission infrastructure serving their campuses, in Dominion Energy Virginia’s Rider T1 proceeding.
- Amazon witness Cameron Brooks said voluntary transmission CIAC would let hyperscale customers “put their own capital at risk” and reduce costs for other ratepayers by shifting stranded-asset risk to the customers driving new demand.
- Dominion argued the issue should not be decided in Rider T1 because it raises broader questions involving PJM planning, FERC jurisdiction, and retail rate design; the Commission also reviewed testimony on how the proposal could interact with Virginia’s newly approved GS-5 tariff and large-load transmission charges.
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Climate Change Solutions - July 28, 2026
Environmental and Energy Study Institute has published a Climate Change Solutions newsletter highlighting climate data access, data center health impacts, nuclear energy, and several congressional bills.
- The newsletter spotlights a new online platform, Climate.us, and an interview with Rebecca Lindsey, who discusses filling the gap left by the now-defunct Climate.gov.
- It also summarizes recent legislative activity, including the House passage of the Next-Generation Geothermal Research and Development Act (H.R. 8790) and Senate movement on the Water Resources Development Act of 2026 (S.4949) and the Wildfire Emissions Prevention Act of 2026 (S.5045).
- A separate article in the newsletter discusses data center health impacts, noting emissions from on-site diesel generators and from natural gas and coal power plants used to power data centers.
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Data Centers are Hotbeds of Health Risks
The article argues that U.S. data center growth is driving fossil-fuel use, air pollution, and public health harms, while highlighting policy proposals and clean-energy alternatives.
- More than 5,500 U.S. data centers already exist, with thousands more under construction or in planning; the article says developers are planning or constructing more than 90 GW of on-site, off-grid natural-gas power plants to avoid grid interconnection queues.
- It cites estimated health damages of $53–99 million per year from permitted PM2.5 emissions at a Loudoun County, Virginia facility, $6 billion in annual U.S. health costs in 2023 from fossil-fuel plants powering data centers, and a projection of $20 billion annually by 2028; it also notes proposed congressional bills and mentions solar, battery storage, and microgrids as solutions.
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Mobilizing for Techno-Economic War, Part 6: From Free Trade Agreements to Strategic Techno-Economic Agreements
ITIF has published a policy report proposing Strategic Techno-Economic Agreements (STEAs) as a new framework for U.S.-led trade deals aimed at strengthening allied industries and constraining China.
- The report argues that the free trade era is over and calls for binding, reciprocal agreements with allies that include zero-for-zero tariffs, digital trade rules, defense production cooperation, investment screening, export-control alignment, and counter-IP theft measures.
- It also cites several recent or existing policy precedents and announcements, including USTR’s March 2026 Section 301 investigations, the U.S.-U.K. critical minerals MOU, and the Pax Silica initiative; the report itself is an original ITIF publication, not a news report of a single transaction.
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Virginia Study on Groundwater and Data Centers Calls for Tighter Water Regulations
Virginia has released a long-delayed groundwater study examining eastern-region aquifer supply and the possible impact of data centers, and the report urges stricter groundwater regulations.
- The report says regulators should have more authority to reject industrial water withdrawal permits, require applicants to examine surface water or water reuse, and strengthen planning and staffing/equipment funding for water management.
- It finds groundwater in Virginia’s eastern coastal plain is constrained, with declining availability likely, and says a data center using evaporative cooling would probably not find a reliable groundwater supply anywhere in the region.
- The report was provided to AP by Gov. Abigail Spanberger’s office after more than six months of withholding; AP says the report had been due in January and was released in July 2026.
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The Gigawatt Buildout Faces the Execution Test
The article is an analysis and commentary piece about the data center and AI infrastructure market, highlighting several recent announcements and deals rather than a single new announcement by one entity.
- Alphabet raised its 2026 capital spending forecast to $195 billion-$205 billion, while OpenAI said it is developing Project Camellia in Effingham County, Georgia with 3.2 GW of power to be delivered from 2028 through 2032.
- The piece also cites the $40 billion acquisition of Aligned Data Centers by BlackRock, MGX and GIP, Hut 8‘s 15-year, 352 MW lease in Texas, and several financing and permitting pressures, including a possible $7 billion collateral requirement for Oracle in Wisconsin and $12 billion of financing for Meta’s Texas project.