Getting your news
Attempting to reconnect
Finding the latest in Climate
Hang in there while we load your news feed
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
-
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.
-
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.
-
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
-
Episode for September 25, 2026
Governor Shapiro and Pennsylvania utility regulators are discussing AI-driven data center growth and its potential grid impacts in Pennsylvania. The item appears to be a podcast episode and linked commentary, not a first-time corporate announcement.
- At an AI conference in Pittsburgh, Governor Shapiro said AI has promise but that “we cannot ignore the warning signs” and “downplay the risks of the industry.”
- The piece highlights community pushback in Westmoreland County and cites Pennsylvania utility regulators warning that unchecked data center growth could threaten regional grid reliability within five years; it also references a related article saying new data centers in the PJM region could use more electricity than Pennsylvania uses today.
-
Behind Your Digital Life
DataBank has announced that it is building a new data center campus in Culpeper, Virginia, while emphasizing community and sustainability initiatives.
- The company says the new campus is being built in Culpeper, Virginia to support growing demand for digital infrastructure.
- DataBank also says it is investing in technology education, sustainability, and community initiatives across the markets where it operates; this reads as a company message rather than a detailed project filing or deal announcement.
-
The Truth About Data Centers: Why Transmission is the Real Grid Challenge
DataBank argues that transmission, not data centers alone, is the real grid constraint in a broader discussion of electricity demand. This is commentary/analysis, not a new project announcement.
- The article says data centers are only one part of rising electricity demand alongside EVs, building electrification, manufacturing, and digital infrastructure; it stresses that transmission is the main bottleneck.
- It cites Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory on more than 2 terawatts of U.S. interconnection queue capacity and notes Goldman Sachs projections that global data center power demand could rise 50% by 2027 and 165% by 2030.
-
Louisiana’s next big industrial play could be nuclear
The U.S. Senate Environment and Public Works Committee is weighing a proposed $50 billion federal plan to create three nuclear innovation campuses in the United States.
- The Department of Energy’s Nuclear Lifecycle Innovation Campus initiative would combine advanced reactors, nuclear fuel recycling, and data centers at three hubs, with candidate host states including Louisiana, Tennessee, Utah, Oklahoma, Idaho, and West Virginia.
- Supporters say each hub could generate up to $10 billion in long-term local tax revenue and 25,000 jobs; the plan would also involve states agreeing to store nuclear waste and comes amid debate over the stalled Yucca Mountain project and federal responsibility for spent fuel.
-
Gov. Spanberger Moves to Rein In Virginia’s Data Center Boom Without a Moratorium
Virginia Governor Abigail Spanberger has announced a new Data Center Accountability Framework and Executive Order 22 to tighten oversight of data center development in the state.
- The order bans non-disclosure agreements for data center projects, directs stricter standards on noise, emissions, and water use, orders a review of diesel and other backup-generation operations, and creates an AI task force on workforce, privacy, and cybersecurity risks.
- The broader legislative agenda would remove automatic local approval for data centers using more than 25 megawatts, end state subsidies in site development programs, shift more transmission and generation costs to large-load customers, and encourage renewable solar and wind backup generation instead of natural gas or diesel; the article says the framework was unveiled on Sept. 18 and is aimed primarily at future projects.
-
Data Center Water Use: From Efficiency Metrics to Real-World Resilience
Data Center Knowledge has published a roundup explaining how water constraints are reshaping data center siting, cooling, operations, and policy.
- The roundup argues that water resilience is now a core requirement for data centers, with emphasis on peak stress performance, site-specific assessments, non-potable water, closed-loop systems, and tighter discharge controls.
- It cites a July 2026 Virginia DEQ assessment saying no site in the Virginia Coastal Plain can support major new groundwater withdrawals at hyperscale scale, and notes a rejected Alberta campus proposal and broader water-pollution risks from evaporative cooling.
- The piece also summarizes technical options such as liquid cooling, seawater, wastewater, and graywater, while warning that WUE alone is an incomplete metric for comparing water performance.
-
Data centers’ backup power contributing to health risks, report says
The Environmental Protection Network has released a report warning that federal regulatory changes are increasing pollution and health risks from data center backup generation.
- The report, Hidden Health Costs of AI Data Centers, says air pollution from data centers could raise healthcare costs by almost $21 billion by 2028, contribute to roughly 600,000 asthma cases and 1,300 premature deaths, and in Virginia alone could cause 14,000 asthma symptom cases, 13 to 19 premature deaths, and $220 million to $300 million in annual public-health costs.
- It highlights 30 federal regulatory actions, including an EPA rule on temporary turbines, an EPA interpretive letter on demand-response participation, and a DOE emergency order for PJM Interconnection; it also cites the xAI Southaven, Mississippi turbine-permit dispute as an example of enforcement uncertainty.
-
Meta, Apex Clean Energy agree to 144-MW Texas solar PPA
Apex Clean Energy and Meta have announced an expansion of their joint clean energy portfolio to 1.2 GW through a new power purchase agreement for Apex’s 144-MW Starling Solar project in Texas.
- The Starling Solar project will be developed in Gonzales County, Texas and is expected to begin commercial operations in 2027; ERCOT’s August queue report lists an anticipated COD of Jan. 28, 2028 and says it has completed the security screening study and entered the full interconnection study phase.
- Meta will receive exclusive rights to all environmental attributes from the project, including all renewable energy credits; Apex said the agreement structure is confidential. The companies said their combined portfolio now includes seven projects across Texas, Virginia, Illinois, Kansas and Iowa.
-
Communities are blocking data centers before they’re even proposed
The article analyzes growing community and regulatory backlash against data center development in the US, while highlighting new state-level restrictions and advice for enterprise planning.
- Data Center Watch says nearly four dozen projects worth an estimated $68 billion were blocked or delayed in the US over a three-month period, with 843 opposition groups identified and 49 states scrutinizing development.
- California Governor Gavin Newsom signed seven bills on Monday covering data center costs, disclosures, and infrastructure; Virginia has a Data Center Accountability Framework, and New York has a temporary moratorium on hyperscale data centers.
- The piece also cites broader industry commentary from Info-Tech Research Group and Moor Insights & Strategy on power, cooling, water, grid constraints, and the need for radical optimization and earlier planning.
-
California joins US states clamping down on data center gold rush
California has announced new data center laws through Governor Gavin Newsom, tightening reporting, cost-sharing, and infrastructure requirements for operators.
- Newsom signed seven bills on Monday; they require energy and water use disclosures, fair payment for electricity grid upgrades, compliance with California energy procurement requirements, and disclosure of water use, supply, efficiency, and drought planning.
- The laws also bar blanket environmental exemptions and require projects to prove compliance with state energy, water, and fuel consumption standards before approval; the article also cites broader US opposition, including 45 projects worth $68 billion delayed or blocked in Q2, and 321 moratoriums and restrictions tracked across 32 states.
- This is a news analysis piece summarizing a new state-level announcement and wider regulatory backlash, not a transcript or opinion essay; it also references related actions in Virginia and New York and examples of efficiency technologies such as Furiosa AI, Intel Xeon, and Nvidia hardware.