Virginia Data Center Intel

Recent Virginia data center news

• Apr 24, 2026

  Virginia Lawmakers Deadlocked on Data Center Tax Incentive

  Virginia lawmakers failed to reach agreement on a state budget that would change the data center retail sales and use tax exemption, prompting a special session in Richmond on April 24, 2026.

  • Main action: The Virginia Senate proposed eliminating the 5.3% sales and use tax exemption on server equipment and software beginning Jan. 1, 2027, while the Virginia House moved to preserve the exemption but attach new environmental and energy requirements; the inability to resolve this split has stalled budget negotiations and led to a special session. Key public figure: Gov. Abigail Spanberger has urged caution in altering incentives data centers rely on.
  • Background and concrete details: Virginia hosts 6,426 megawatts operational capacity (mid-2025) and more than 24,000 megawatts planned; data centers generate $9.1 billion GDP, $5.5 billion labor income, and more than $2 billion in local tax revenue. The contested 5.3% exemption causes the state to forgo about $1.6 billion annually. Recent legislation includes SB94 (requires environmental and community impact assessments for facilities consuming >100 megawatts before local approval) and SB553 (requires utilities to report monthly water usage by data centers starting in 2027); other bills address backup generator standards, electricity cost allocation, and clean energy procurement requirements.
• Apr 24, 2026

  Episode for April 24, 2026

  Gov. Josh Shapiro announced two Western Pennsylvania coal-fired power plants will push back their retirement dates by at least four more years.

  • Main action: Gov. Josh Shapiro announced the two Western Pennsylvania coal-fired power plants will stay open through 2032, providing additional time to meet water pollution standards and to help satisfy rising energy demand from data centers.
  • Background and other details: The episode (April 24, 2026) also reports Ohio residents’ concerns about planned fracking in a remote natural area, coverage of native hawthorn trees Crataegus pennsylvanica and their habitat value for the scarlet tanager (an estimated 13% of its breeding population in Pennsylvania), and a farm–nonprofit partnership redirecting spoiled produce to a farm where chickens eat the food as a “salad bar” to reduce waste and fight hunger.
• Apr 24, 2026

  Data Center Permits: How Long They Take and What Speeds Approval

  The article provides guidance on data center permitting timelines and strategies for accelerating approvals.

  • Main finding: In the US, securing permits for a new-build data center typically takes 6 to 18 months, with some outliers exceeding two years; the piece recommends practical tactics such as choosing experienced jurisdictions, submitting complete plans, front‑loading environmental assessments, and phased builds (e.g., launching a simpler initial build and adding complex elements later).
  • Context and references: The article is informational (not a legal notice) and references recent policy activity including a White House directive (July 2025) to accelerate federal permitting, state-level incentives in Pennsylvania, and proposed/tabled measures in New York, Minnesota, and Maine; it also notes examples (e.g., a Loudoun County, Virginia project) and cites industry sources including DataCenterKnowledge, DataCenterDynamics, and Shovels.ai.
• Apr 23, 2026

  How Corporate Energy Buyers Are Reshaping the U.S. Grid: CEBA CEO Rich Powell on Data Centers, Nuclear, and Permitting Reform

  The Corporate Energy Buyers Association (CEBA) CEO Rich Powell described how corporate energy buyers are reshaping the U.S. grid and urged federal permitting and transmission planning reform.

  • Main announcement/action: CEBA says corporate buyers have announced 143.8 GW of clean energy deals in the U.S. since 2014 and contracted a record 27 GW in 2025 (with ~17 GW in Q1 2026 reported by S&P Global), and CEBA members are committing to cost-allocation measures (e.g., the Ratepayer Protection Pledge) to cover the costs to serve new loads while supporting grid upgrades.
  • Background and additional details: CEBA members procured about 20 GW of solar and 5 GW of nuclear in 2025; the membership is technology-agnostic (“If it’s carbon emissions free, we like it”); Powell pressed for federal permitting reform and transmission planning codified into law so permits cannot be unduly rescinded; listed technologies include restarts, license renewals, uprates, SMRs and advanced reactors (X-energy, Kairos, TerraPower, Oklo), and new deal structures collapsing physical and virtual PPAs into hybrid firm-capacity-plus-attribute arrangements.
• Apr 23, 2026

  Rethinking Load Growth: New Partnerships Between Power Developers and Midstream Natural Gas Companies

  Freddie Sarhan, CEO of Sapphire Technologies, argues that recovered energy from natural gas infrastructure (pressure drop and waste-heat recovery) is a commercially viable, fast-deploying source of clean, baseload-like power that can help meet accelerated load growth.

  • Main announcement/action: The commentary urges developers and utilities to pursue turboexpander and waste-heat-to-power projects at existing pipeline regulating facilities and compressor stations, noting an analysis identifying more than 3,500 regulating facilities with suitable flow regimes for power recovery, eligibility for the Section 48E clean electricity investment tax credit (via the One Big Beautiful Bill, 2025), and deployment timelines measured in months rather than years.
  • Background and supporting details: The piece cites sharply rising demand forecasts — five-year utility peak load growth increased from 24 GW to 166 GW through 2030 and data center demand could reach 176 GW by 2035 — plus system constraints (average 10-year transmission project timelines; an ~2,600 GW interconnection queue). It also references ATTs increasing transmission capacity by 10%–30% and that advanced conductors could save $85 billion in system costs by 2035, while states including Virginia, Minnesota, Colorado, and Maine are requiring ATT evaluations in IRPs.
• Apr 23, 2026

  Energy Policy Task Force Addresses Growing Electricity Demand in North Carolina

  Governor Josh Stein established the Energy Policy Task Force to strengthen energy infrastructure and affordability in North Carolina.

  • Energy Policy Task Force established by Governor Josh Stein, co-chaired by NC DEQ Secretary Reid Wilson and Representative Kyle Hall, comprises 30 energy experts and bi-partisan policymakers; it is staffed by the NC Clean Energy Technology Center (NCCETC), the NC Office of the Governor, NC DEQ, and the NC Department of Commerce. The task force is required to submit an annual report to the Governor, General Assembly, North Carolina Utilities Commission, North Carolina Rural Electrification Authority, and the public; it released an interim report on Feb 15, 2026 and will provide a more detailed report on or before Feb 15, 2027.

  • The task force has two subcommittees—Load Growth Subcommittee and Technical Advisory Subcommittee—and has held meetings on Sept 30, 2025; Dec 2, 2025; Jan 22, 2026; Feb 3 & Feb 10, 2026; and Apr 8, 2026. Presenters and contributors included LBNL, SEPA, CESA, Indiana Office of Energy Development, Virginia State Corporation Commission, David Gardiner and Associates, and Microsoft (which discussed its “Community-First AI Infrastructure Plan”). The interim report contains nine preliminary recommendations (including large load tariffs, BYOC, interconnection reforms, and data center energy/water reporting); the Technical Advisory Subcommittee plans to release a technical modeling report within months.

• Apr 22, 2026

  PR Push Seen as Key to Overcoming Data Center Opposition

  Parker Slaybaugh of Virginia Connects/LINK Public Affairs outlined a three-phase strategy to build local support for data center projects before, during, and after development.

  • Main announcement:Parker Slaybaugh (vice president, Virginia Connects/LINK Public Affairs) presented a three-phase strategy aimed at building local support for data center projects before, during, and after project development at Data Center World on April 22, 2026.
  • Background/details: The remarks were made amid heightened tensions and local opposition to data center expansion, including a cited incident in Indianapolis where shots were fired at a local official’s home alongside a note opposing data centers.
    • Event: Data Center World
    • Date: April 22, 2026
    • Location: Washington (dateline)
    • Agenda/subject: public relations and community engagement strategies for data center projects
• Apr 22, 2026

  Detroit air quality gets another F from American Lung Association

  The American Lung Association has announced Detroit received an F in its 2026 State of the Air report.

  • Main announcement: The American Lung Association reports the Detroit‑Warren‑Ann Arbor metro ranks No. 11 for short‑term PM2.5 and No. 9 for year‑round PM2.5 (data from 2022–2024); Wayne County recorded 20 high ozone days and 25 high PM2.5 days between 2022 and 2024, and annual unhealthy PM2.5 days in Wayne County rose from an average of 8.5 to 9.3.
  • Background & related actions: The report warns that data center energy growth and EPA rollbacks threaten air quality; upcoming public processes include an EGLE virtual hearing (Apr 22, 2026, 6:00 PM) on a Draft Addendum for Southeast Michigan ozone redesignation and a Detroit City Council Public Health & Safety committee meeting (Apr 27, 2026, 10:00 AM); the American Lung Association called on Michigan policymakers to ensure data center proposals are community‑designed and powered by renewable, zero‑emission energy sources.
• Apr 22, 2026

  How to secure philanthropic funding in a competitive climate

  Nature reports on trends in philanthropic funding for scientific research and provides guidance for applicants.

  • Main finding: The article outlines that philanthropic foundations (for example, the Simons Foundation, Wellcome, the Novo Nordisk Foundation and the Sloan Foundation) are increasingly important funders of basic and applied research; key quantitative details include a rise in philanthropic share of US university and nonprofit research funding from 10% to 16% (1980–2023) and a fall in federal share from 66% to 50%. It also cites specific grants and endowments such as US$1 million (Sloan award for data-centre study) and more than US$1.4 million (Sloan award on methane flaring research).
  • Context and guidance: This is a journalistic analysis and guidance piece (not a single institutional announcement). It summarises foundation priorities (e.g., Novo Nordisk Foundation: health, sustainability, local life-science ecosystem; Wellcome: climate and health, infectious diseases, mental health, discovery research) and offers practical advice for applicants, including geographic preferences (around 35% of grants and 49% of funds go to recipients in the donor’s same state) and changing success rates (Wellcome funded 16.6% of open-scheme applicants in 2024–25, down from 22.3% the previous year).
• Apr 21, 2026

  Officials Shift Data Center Strategy to Win Community Support

  States are changing how they manage data center growth, pushing developers to engage communities, improve facility design, and assume infrastructure costs, officials said at Data Center World on April 21, 2026.

  • Main action: States are requiring greater community engagement, design improvements, and that developers take on infrastructure/grid costs (e.g., Mississippi legislation requiring data centers to cover grid costs; Georgia has similar standards). West Virginia created a one-stop shop and removed local zoning for qualifying projects while retaining voluntary developer presentations for local feedback. Power access is now the primary constraint with projected connection delays—officials warned timelines for new projects may be “a decade to 15 years off.”
  • Background/details: Remarks came at Data Center World (April 21, 2026) from named officials including Buddy Rizer, Chris Morris, Brian Rothamel, Garrett Wright, Chris Pumphrey, and Reena Brilliot. Santa Clara reported data centers contribute 15 to 18 percent of its general fund. Public resistance increasingly tied to concerns about AI, and officials emphasized that financial incentives alone are insufficient without visible local partnerships and improved facility aesthetics.