Virginia Data Center Intel

Recent Virginia data center news

• Apr 11, 2026

  WV lawmakers did little to nothing for environmental protections during legislative session

  The West Virginia Legislature kept the law creating the high-impact microgrid and data center program unchanged and failed to advance environmental protections.

  • Kept high-impact microgrid and data center program law unchanged after the data center bill passage in 2025; local control remains nonexistent, and the column warns that gigantic natural gas plants and diesel generators tied to data centers threaten local air and water. Senate President Randy Smith reportedly expressed second thoughts but made no legislative changes.
  • Removed references to energy efficiency and renewable energy when codifying the governor’s 50 gigawatt by 2050 plan; senators debated a bill that would have pressured Appalachian Power and First Energy on coal plant retirements (a proposal did not pass), Public Service Commission Chair Charlotte Lane advised against that bill, and aboveground storage tank inspection requirements (weakened since the 2014 chemical spill that left 300,000 West Virginians without water) were again reduced in scope.
• Apr 10, 2026

  First Data Center Project Enters Federal 'FAST' Permitting Program

  The Federal Permitting Improvement Steering Council has designated the QTS Richmond Technology Park Data Center 5 project as a FAST-41 “covered project”.

  • Designation details: The project is located in Chirisa Technology Parks in Chester, Virginia and is part of an existing campus with four operational data center buildings; the new phase includes two additional facilities with construction expected to begin by January 2028 if federal approvals proceed on schedule. The FAST-41 designation provides enhanced federal coordination and a single, publicly available permitting schedule under a voluntary process that brings together 13 federal agencies.
  • Context and background: FAST-41 stems from the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act (2015) and is administered by the Federal Permitting Improvement Steering Council; the permitting council reports projects in FAST-41 reach a record of decision nearly 18 months faster than comparable projects. The designation follows a July 2025 executive order directing agencies to expedite qualifying data center projects and does not change underlying environmental requirements such as NEPA (noting recent NEPA rule changes referenced).
• Apr 10, 2026

  Episode for April 10, 2026

  The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection held a public hearing to gather comments about a new permit for Shell’s ethane cracker / plastic production facility in Beaver County.

  • DEP public hearing: The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection held a public hearing in Beaver County to collect comments on a new permit for Shell‘s ethane cracker / plastic production facility; the hearing drew both support and opposition and is covered in the Allegheny Front episode (April 10, 2026).
  • Background and additional coverage: A report by PennEnvironment gives Pennsylvania an F for rooftop solar permitting; Pennsylvania state lawmakers have introduced multiple bills to address data center growth (covering electricity and water use and potential tax breaks); the episode also highlights the American woodcock mating display and an Ohio legislator‘s proposal to reintroduce elk.
• Apr 10, 2026

  As Trump throws lifeline to coal plants, critics warn of higher costs and health risks

  The Trump administration has used emergency powers to prevent scheduled coal plant retirements and to fund upgrades that keep plants operating.

  • Main action: The administration issued emergency orders to keep at least five coal plants from closing, spent $175 million on upgrades for seven plants, is considering $350 million more in applications, and officials (e.g., Interior Secretary Doug Burgum) have articulated a goal of “100 per cent stay open, no more retirements”, citing grid reliability concerns. The administration also used measures that delayed the planned retirement of the Schahfer Generating Station in Indiana and justified keeping it online for extreme weather power needs.
  • Background and details: The piece references analysis by Enverus that suggested no additional coal retirements may occur during the administration; it notes 34 GW of coal capacity was set to retire before 2029, coal plants slated to retire emitted >130 million tons CO2 last year, and that keeping the fleet afloat could cost about $1 billion annually. Legal challenges have been filed by multiple states (Washington, Illinois, Minnesota, Michigan, Colorado).
• Apr 10, 2026

  The Rise of Data Centers Brings Environmental Permitting Challenges and Litigation Risk

  The Trump Administration issued Executive Order No. 14318 in July 2025 to accelerate federal permitting of data center infrastructure.

  • Federal acceleration: The executive order (Executive Order No. 14318) and America’s AI Action Plan direct accelerated permitting for projects including natural gas turbines, coal, nuclear, geothermal, and other dispatchable baseload energy resources, and the US Army Corps of Engineers has implemented guidance (Nationwide Permit 39) clarifying that “data centers, artificial intelligence and machine learning facilities” can qualify for general permitting under section 404 of the Clean Water Act. These are existing, prior announcements (July 2025 EO; subsequent agency actions) rather than new announcements in this article.
  • Local litigation and project details: The article reports on active legal disputes (December 2025 writ petition; February 2026 court ruling granting leave to amend) over a proposed $10 billion, nearly one-million-square-foot data center complex in Imperial, California. Developer Imperial Valley Computer Manufacturing filed a separate civil rights suit in January 2026 alleging a loss of over 1,600 construction jobs, 100 permanent positions, $72.5 million in blocked one-time sales tax revenue, and $28.75 million in recurring annual property tax revenue; the developer has proposed a court-approved “global settlement” that would “run with the land.”
• Apr 9, 2026

  Goodman and DataBank partner on Vernon data center 

  DataBank Holdings and Goodman Group have formed a joint venture to market LAX2, a new 140,000‑square‑foot data center in Vernon, Los Angeles, scheduled to open in December and expand to 32MW by September 2027.

  • Joint venture & project details: The companies announced a JV to market LAX2 at 3094 East Vernon Avenue; the facility is 140,000 square feet, scheduled to open in December with an initial 6MW at launch, and will scale in phases to 32MW by September 2027. Goodman developed the project and acquired the site in 2023; DataBank will operate and market it and will complement its nearby LAX1 (18,000 sq ft, 2MW) site.
  • Background & financing: Goodman currently manages $12.4 billion of work in progress globally; DataBank recently received a $250 million equity infusion from New York‑based TJC LP and previously completed a $2 billion equity raise in 2024 (including $1.5 billion from AustralianSuper). The JV states both parties intend to expand the relationship into additional capacity‑constrained U.S. markets and LAX2 is part of DataBank’s national pipeline exceeding 850MW across multiple U.S. cities.
• Apr 9, 2026

  The Rise of Data Centers Brings Environmental Permitting Challenges and Litigation Risk

  The Trump Administration issued Executive Order No. 14318 and America’s AI Action Plan in July 2025 calling for accelerated permitting of data center infrastructure.

  • Executive actions: The administration’s Executive Order No. 14318 and America’s AI Action Plan (July 2025) direct accelerated permitting for energy and electrical infrastructure serving data center projects, including natural gas turbines, coal, nuclear, geothermal, and other dispatchable baseload resources; the US Army Corps of Engineers issued Nationwide Permit 39 clarifying that “data centers, artificial intelligence and machine learning facilities” qualify for general permitting under section 404 of the Clean Water Act.
  • Local disputes and litigation: Local jurisdictions have enacted oversight (e.g., Loudoun County data center standards) while the City of Imperial sued Imperial County (writ petition filed December 2025) to block a nearly 1 million-square-foot, $10 billion data center project; the developer, Imperial Valley Computer Manufacturing, filed a separate civil rights suit (January 2026) alleging coordinated obstruction and quantifying blocked revenues of $72.5 million (one-time sales tax) and $28.75 million (recurring annual property tax), and has proposed a court-approved global settlement that would “run with the land.”
• Apr 8, 2026

  Balancing Growth and Affordability While Building the Grid We Need Today

  Grid Forward’s GridPulse podcast kicked off season 7 featuring Virginia Commissioner Jehmal Hudson discussing state regulators’ role in modernizing the grid and coordinating with utilities.

  • Main announcement/action: GridPulse (Grid Forward) released a season 7 episode where Commissioner Jehmal Hudson (Virginia SCC; Vice President of NARUC) outlined the responsibilities and challenges for state commissioners, emphasizing speed, coordination, and affordability; he cited concrete figures including over 2000GW of generation and storage projects in interconnection queues, average wait times that have more than doubled over the past decade, and the DOE finding that regional transmission may need to expand 20%–128% by 2035.
  • Background and details: Hudson recommended concrete priorities: disciplined planning, risk allocation for large loads, and pacing/prioritization; he highlighted deployment of Grid Enhancing Technologies (GETs) (advanced power flow controls, dynamic line ratings, topology optimization) that the DOE estimates can generate over $5 billion annually in production cost savings and can increase line utilization by ~16% and reduce congestion by ~50%.
• Apr 7, 2026

  In Major Win, Massive ‘Digital Gateway’ Data Center Project Has Been Halted

  The Virginia Court of Appeals voided rezoning decisions that underpinned the Digital Gateway project, effectively halting the proposal.

  • Main announcement: The Virginia Court of Appeals issued a unanimous ruling (March 31, 2026) declaring the three rezoning decisions for the Digital Gateway proposal void from the outset because the Prince William County Board of Supervisors failed to properly notify the public before its December 2023 hearing; the decision combines lawsuits brought by the Oak Valley Homeowners Association, nearby residents, and the American Battlefield Trust and bars an appeal to the Virginia Supreme Court. Key project details: 37 data centers, 14 substations, 22 million square feet (equivalent to ~144 Walmart Supercenters) across ~2,100 acres; PEC estimated 3–6 gigawatts of potential power demand and warned of risks to the Occoquan watershed serving 800,000 people and Manassas National Battlefield Park (serving >700,000 visitors).
  • Background & near-term actions: PEC and partners opposed and litigated the rezoning (including filing an amicus curiae); the email urges legislative action to end or phase out the state data center sales tax exemption (reported at $1.9 billion in 2025). Legislators reconvene April 23, 2026 to try to finalize the budget; the Senate proposed to phase out the sales tax break while the House kept it. Additional concrete facts: PEC cites $14.4 billion as Virginia outdoor recreation economic value (BEA 2024 data); Dominion Energy is building related infrastructure and several transmission projects have been proposed to serve data center loads.
• Apr 7, 2026

  Will the Dickerson data center project impact MoCo’s environment?

  Atmosphere Data Centers and Terra Energy propose a large data center campus at the former Dickerson power plant site in Montgomery County, Maryland.

  • Project announcement and status: Atmosphere Data Centers (developer) and Terra Energy (site owner) are proposing a 110-acre data center campus with a planned capacity of 360 megawatts; Terra Energy filed an initial application in December 2023, so this article reports on an ongoing proposal rather than a first-time announcement. The campus would connect to the grid via FirstEnergy transmission lines and requires new on-site infrastructure (substation, switchyard).
  • Key technical and regulatory details: Atmosphere says the campus would use an average 69,300 gallons/day for cooling with a proposed maximum daily allowance of 500,000 gallons; the company plans diesel generators with emissions controls for backup (selective catalytic reduction and diesel particulate filters). Atmosphere has submitted water withdrawal and discharge permit applications to the Maryland Department of the Environment, while local activists and county officials are urging a 100% renewable energy commitment and greater transparency on water use. County climate targets cited: 80% emissions reduction by 2027 and 100% by 2035.