Virginia Data Center Intel

Recent Virginia data center news

• Feb 25, 2026

  No end in sight for data center development in SoCal

  Commercial Observer (citing JLL research) reports that Southern California data center capacity is expected to nearly double in the next few years to meet AI-driven demand.

  • Main announcement: JLL-backed reporting indicates SoCal’s existing data center capacity of 335 megawatts is expected to nearly double as new facilities come online to serve AI workloads; developers are deliberately sizing projects under regulatory thresholds (just under 50 MW or 100 MW) to avoid California Energy Commission oversight. Key concrete examples: Goodman Group is planning a 49.5-megawatt facility named LAX01 in Vernon.
  • Background and regulatory details: Under California law, backup generators for data centers are treated as thermal power plants so projects >50 MW fall under the California Energy Commission for full certification; projects 50–100 MW can seek a Small Power Plant Exemption but may face environmental review and formal hearings if denied. State Sen. Steve Padilla has proposed Senate Bill 58, offering partial sales and use tax exemptions for data center projects that incorporate sustainable energy practices. The article also notes California’s average electricity cost of ~$0.18 per kWh compared with ~$0.10 per kWh in the Pacific Northwest.
• Feb 25, 2026

  Climate Change Solutions - February 24, 2026

  The Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI) released a newsletter highlighting data center impacts, policy developments on Capitol Hill, and upcoming briefings and events.

  • Main announcement: EESI highlighted rising household energy costs driven in part by data center demand, noting electricity prices have risen by up to 267% since 2020 in high-concentration data center areas and that wildfires cost the United States up to $424 billion annually. The newsletter features the article “Data Center Power Demands Are Contributing to Higher Energy Bills,” a podcast on wildfire philanthropy, and announces briefings including “Understanding Load Growth and Energy Affordability” on Thursday, February 26 (3:30 p.m. - 5:00 p.m., Rayburn House Office Building, Gold Room (Room 2168) and online).

  • Background and other details: The newsletter summaries recent legislative actions and events: Senate Energy Committee advanced the Critical Mineral Consistency Act of 2025 (S.714); House Committee approved the ACERO Act (H.R.390) to authorize NASA’s ACERO project; Senate Foreign Relations agreed to the Protecting Global Fisheries Act of 2026 (S.1369); House introduced the Farm, Food, and National Security Act of 2026 (H.R.7567). Events listed with dates/times/locations:

    • Understanding Load Growth and Energy Affordability — Feb 26, 3:30 p.m. - 5:00 p.m., Rayburn House Office Building, Gold Room (Room 2168) and online
    • Igniting Innovation: Progress and a Path Forward for Wildfire Policy — Mar 3, 3:00 p.m. - 4:30 p.m., Russell Senate Office Building, Room 385 and online (Reception to follow)
    • Strategies to Lower Utility Bills Now for Households and Small Businesses — Mar 12, 3:00 p.m. - 4:30 p.m., Rayburn House Office Building, Gold Room (Room 2168) and online
    • 2026 Congressional Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency EXPO and Policy Forum (EXPO 2026) — Jun 24, 9:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.m., Rayburn House Office Building Foyer and Gold Room and online
• Feb 25, 2026

  NEMA, other groups want the US to pay companies to employ veterans as electricians

  Reps. Jen Kiggans (R-Va.) and Chrissy Houlahan (D-Pa.) introduced the Veterans Energy Transition Act (H.R. 4105) this week.

  • Main announcement: The bill, H.R. 4105, would provide $10,000 for each veteran hired and up to $500,000 annually per organization to cover training, onboarding, relocating, and professional certifications; service members’ spouses are also eligible. The legislation was introduced to the House Veterans Affairs Committee and is supported by a coalition including the National Electrical Manufacturers Association, Data Center Coalition, and American Lighting Association.
  • Context and supporting details: The coalition sent a letter arguing the move addresses labor needs as data centers and other big electricity users drive projected 50% growth in energy consumption by 2050. Testimony supporting the bill came from Wes Smith, president/CEO of the National Association of Electrical Distributors, and Liza Reed, director of climate and energy at the Niskanen Center, emphasizing worker shortages, Department of Defense transition figures (~200,000 service members/year), and electrician supply gaps (about 7,000 entering vs 10,000 leaving annually).
• Feb 24, 2026

  Data Centers in the Town of Orange? Protecting Our Small-Town Character

  The Orange Town Council voted unanimously on Feb. 17, 2026 to amend the town’s zoning ordinance to shift data centers from “by-right” uses to a Special Use Permit (SUP) process and to prohibit them in certain districts.

  • Main action (Feb. 17, 2026): The Town Council voted unanimously to require a Special Use Permit (SUP) for data centers in TAC, RC, and TI districts; prohibited data centers in the Traditional Town Center (TTC) and in all residential districts (RR, TR-L, TR-H); the Council also moved data centers to SUP in the Round Hill Traditional Neighborhood Development district.
  • Background and PEC request: The Piedmont Environmental Council (PEC) urges the Town to adopt a 40,000-square-foot size cap to prohibit hyperscale facilities, to update definitions to distinguish hyperscale impacts and separate fossil-fuel primary power generation as a distinct use requiring its own SUP, and to adopt visual and noise standards; this follows a Dec. 2025 Orange County Board of Supervisors decision creating a floating Technology zoning district countywide.
• Feb 24, 2026

  College environmentalists imagine their futures…

  Students from West Virginia University and Concord University met with lawmakers at the state Capitol to press for protections and transparency on proposed data center development while the West Virginia House of Delegates recently approved new certification rules for high-impact data centers.

  • Main action: Students (more than 50 attendees) participated in the 36th annual Environmental Day to urge lawmakers for community protections, transparency, and regulation of data center developments; the article reports the House of Delegates approved new certification rules for high-impact data centers but voted down amendments on water use, a 500-foot buffer, increased reporting/transparency, and local petition/ballot power.
  • Background and details: The students named include Andrew O’Neal, Noi Alfgeirsson, Elise Vuiller and Jalen Cuyun Carter; residents from Mingo, Tucker and Mason counties have raised similar concerns, and under current law local governments have no power to regulate certified data centers;
    • Event: 36th annual Environmental Day
      • Date: Monday, Feb. 23 (as reported in the article/photo caption)
      • Time: not specified
      • Location: West Virginia State Capitol, Charleston, WV
      • Agenda/subject: student meetings with lawmakers to express concerns about proposed data center developments, request protections and transparency
• Feb 24, 2026

  7x24 Exchange's Dennis Cronin on the Data Center Workforce Crisis: The Talent Cliff Is Already Here

  Dennis Cronin (7x24 Exchange founding member and MCGA board member) warns the data center industry is already facing a structural workforce crisis and calls for coordinated industry investment, standardized certification, and scaled community-college pathways.

  • Main announcement/action: Cronin estimates a roughly one million job gap (467,000–498,000 core operational roles + ~514,000 emerging AI/sustainability/security roles), calls to replace five-year experience requirements with an entry-level certification, and urges a shared funding approach across operators, vendors, contractors, and manufacturers (he cites $60B in data centers announced this year and advocates for $1B to scale training).
  • Background and details: Cronin critiques internal academies and commercial courses (commercial training often ~$1,000 per day per person), highlights community colleges (Cleveland CC, Northern Virginia CC, Southside CC) as scalable two-year technician pipelines, and outlines a workforce ecosystem of outreach, standardized curriculum, certification labs, apprenticeships, and employer commitments.
• Feb 24, 2026

  Data Center Power Demands Are Contributing to Higher Energy Bills

  Miguel Yañez-Barnuevo reports that as data centers expand nationwide, utilities have received hundreds of gigawatts in interconnection requests, prompting utilities to seek large infrastructure investments and pass costs onto residential and small-business customers. This article is a synthesis of reporting and data from multiple sources rather than a single new corporate or government announcement.

  • Main announcement/action:Utilities received at least 700 GW of data center interconnection requests in 2025, prompting requests for $29 billion in rate increases in H1 2025 and driving investment in generation, transmission, and transformers; regulated utilities face an “obligation to serve” that interacts with approvals by public utility commissions to raise rates to cover these upfront investments.
  • Background / other details:Coal plant refurbishment can cost up to $1.3 billion, natural gas plants entering service in 2030 report costs around $2,000 per kW (potentially rising to $3,000 per kW), average U.S. residential electricity rose to 19 cents/kWh by end of 2025 (from ~13 cents pre-2019), $25 billion in outstanding household utility debt in June 2025 and ~21 million households behind on bills; regulators and utilities are creating large-load tariffs and exploring measures such as on-bill financing for energy-efficiency upgrades.
• Feb 24, 2026

  Roundup: FedEx’s tariff lawsuit / Meta’s megadeal / Data centers

  FedEx has filed suit against the U.S. government seeking a full refund for tariffs set last year by President Donald Trump after the Supreme Court ruled the tariffs illegal.

  • Main action: FedEx filed a claim with the U.S. Court of International Trade seeking a full refund of tariffs it paid; the company said it has “suffered injury” from paying the tariffs and is seeking relief that would redress those injuries.
  • Background and related items: Other large U.S. corporations including Costco and Revlon have launched efforts to recoup costs from the same Supreme Court‑ruled illegal tariffs; separately, Meta Platforms Inc. will deploy 6 gigawatts of data‑center gear using AMD processors over a five‑year period beginning in the second half of 2026, with the transactions described as worth “double‑digit billions” of dollars per gigawatt, and JLL reports data‑center demand is at an “inflection point” with Texas poised to surpass Virginia and vacancy rates near 1%.
• Feb 24, 2026

  Soluna CEO on Stranded Renewables, AI Data Centers, and a 'Grid Revolution'

  Soluna Holdings is expanding its co-located renewable-powered data center model from bitcoin mining into AI, announcing a multi-site buildout including Project Kati and Project Dorothy and a 3-gigawatt project pipeline.

  • Main announcement/action: Soluna is transitioning from bitcoin-focused facilities to AI/high-performance computing campuses co-located with utility-scale wind and solar plants; key project details include a 3-gigawatt pipeline, Project Kati (166 MW planned over two phases; Kati 1 initial energization with phased commissioning through 2026; 83 MW bitcoin side; starting with 100 MW AI capacity and planned scale to >300 MW), and Project Dorothy (operational, providing 98 MW for Bitcoin hosting at two Texas sites; expanded partnership with Blockware adding 6 MW to Dorothy 1).
  • Background and implementation details: The model monetizes curtailed/stranded renewable generation by buying excess power from host plants, Soluna claims its builds are 18% cleaner than traditional data centers, targets single-tenant hyperscalers and neo-clouds on long-term contracts, and prioritizes AI training workloads (batchable, remote) rather than low-latency inference; utilities and transmission constraints (e.g., California 3.4 TWh curtailed cited) are central to the rationale.
• Feb 24, 2026

  An Electric Super-Highway Through the Piedmont

  Valley Link Transmission has proposed the 115-mile, 765 kV “Joshua Falls-Yeat” transmission line across central Virginia to deliver power to Dominion Energy’s growing queue of data centers and plans to file for a certificate of public convenience and necessity (CPCN) with the Virginia SCC in summer 2026.

  • Project details: Proposed 115 miles, 765 kV, 200-foot cleared corridor, typical towers ~160 feet tall, over 400 towers, and the proposal would clear over 2,500 acres; Valley Link plans to file with the SCC in summer 2026 and install and energize the line by the end of 2029 to deliver power toward Northern Virginia data centers.
  • Background and timeline: Project proposed by joint venture Valley Link Transmission (Dominion Energy, Transource, FirstEnergy Transmission); PJM selected Joshua Falls-Yeat in Feb 2025 as part of its RTEP; PJM projected local peak growing to ~33 GW by 2030, Dominion told the SCC it has requests to serve over 70 GW, and PJM’s recommended transmission investment rose from $920 million (2021 baseline) to almost $12 billion (2025 RTEP).