Republicans and Democrats say new regulations are needed for data center industry in Virginia
RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) -- The Commonwealth of Virginia is considered by many to be the data center capital of the world. “Oh my god,” State Senator Danica Roem (D-Prince William) told 8News. “They are everywhere.” Now, lawmakers are grappling with how to regulate the $9 billion industry. “I go through the town of Haymarket and then I cross Route 15 and what do I see to the left on Charles Street, another freaking data center,” Roem said. On Monday, Virginia’s non-partisan state research agency known as JLARC, found that while the industry does provide significant tax revenue for localities and plenty of jobs during construction, data centers are driving an unprecedented increase in the need for energy in Virginia. According to JLARC, power companies will have to build more energy plants in order to pay for that increase which could drive up the average Virginian’s electric bill by $37 a month by 2040. “If you are in the greater Richmond area for example, and you say, 'Well, why do I care about data centers in western Prince William County?' Because your energy bill is going up because of that,” Roem said. “If a single entity is the straw that breaks the camel’s back on infrastructure and pushes the needle to the point where you need new transmission lines and generation, that should be borne by the entity that is driving that need, not the individual ratepayers,” Republican Delegate Ian Lovejoy (R-Prince William) told 8News. The report also found that even though one-third of data centers are in residential areas, data centers are “incompatible with residential uses” due to their size and the noise they emit. “I don’t think anybody wants to kill the industry. Nobody wants to see no data centers built per se. We just want to see them built at the right place at the right time and we just want to mitigate their impacts,” Lovejoy said. JLARC laid out several recommendations for the General Assembly to consider when it comes to regulating the data center industry. Both Lovejoy and Roem say several bills will be introduced to do just that during the 2025 General Assembly Session.
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RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) -- The Commonwealth of Virginia is considered by many to be the data center capital of the world.
“Oh my god,” State Senator Danica Roem (D-Prince William) told 8News. “They are everywhere.”
Now, lawmakers are grappling with how to regulate the $9 billion industry.
“I go through the town of Haymarket and then I cross Route 15 and what do I see to the left on Charles Street, another freaking data center,” Roem said.
On Monday, Virginia’s non-partisan state research agency known as JLARC, found that while the industry does provide significant tax revenue for localities and plenty of jobs during construction, data centers are driving an unprecedented increase in the need for energy in Virginia. According to JLARC, power companies will have to build more energy plants in order to pay for that increase which could drive up the average Virginian’s electric bill by $37 a month by 2040.
“If you are in the greater Richmond area for example, and you say, 'Well, why do I care about data centers in western Prince William County?' Because your energy bill is going up because of that,” Roem said.
“If a single entity is the straw that breaks the camel’s back on infrastructure and pushes the needle to the point where you need new transmission lines and generation, that should be borne by the entity that is driving that need, not the individual ratepayers,” Republican Delegate Ian Lovejoy (R-Prince William) told 8News.
The report also found that even though one-third of data centers are in residential areas, data centers are “incompatible with residential uses” due to their size and the noise they emit.
“I don’t think anybody wants to kill the industry. Nobody wants to see no data centers built per se. We just want to see them built at the right place at the right time and we just want to mitigate their impacts,” Lovejoy said.
JLARC laid out several recommendations for the General Assembly to consider when it comes to regulating the data center industry. Both Lovejoy and Roem say several bills will be introduced to do just that during the 2025 General Assembly Session.
