Virginia Tightens Data Center Approvals and Starts an AI Review
Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger signed Executive Order 22 to slow data center approvals and give local communities a larger say in development decisions. The order implements core parts of a broader Data Center Accountability Framework unveiled September 18, 2026, according to September 18 reporting from The Verge and WDBJ7.
The framework would end by-right approval for data centers. By-right is a planning term. It means a project that fits existing zoning can proceed after a staff check, with no hearing or vote. Discretionary approval, by contrast, requires public hearings, added conditions, and a vote.
The framework also calls for removing some state subsidies, setting environmental guardrails, and shielding residents from higher energy prices tied to data centers. The order itself tightens permitting and commercial and environmental controls, as described by Reuters. The exact subsidy programs and rate-protection tools were not specified in the verified disclosures. Public disclosure becomes the default.
Executive Order 22 bars executive branch officials from signing non-disclosure agreements for commercial data center projects. The ban applies to agencies, departments, boards, commissions, authorities and employees, who may not enter into or require such agreements, according to WTVR. Such NDAs have often kept parcel identity, load requirements, or how much power a project needs, and incentive talks private during early scoping. Without them, project interest is entered into the public record earlier.
On operations, the order requires faster noise rules for data centers and a review of backup-generation operations. Noise limits and generator testing windows are standard conditions in conditional-use permits. Under the order, measurement methods, compliance thresholds, and reporting would be addressed in statewide rulemaking. The scope and strictness of those rules are not yet defined.
The order separately creates an AI task force. It is charged with evaluating how state government can address risks to Virginians such as workforce displacement and data privacy issues, and with determining how existing law can be applied to AI harms. It is also charged with developing policy and legislative proposals on workforce displacement, data privacy and cybersecurity, according to FCNP. The approach is to apply current authority first, then identify gaps for new legislation.
The broader context here is what earlier scrutiny means for builders and for the state. Without a by-right path and without NDAs, community discussion starts earlier in a project, before capital is fully committed to land and to interconnection, the power and fiber links a site needs. Timelines extend and county negotiation power grows. Permitting, community affairs, and environmental compliance become gating items alongside power procurement and fiber access. Compute demand drives more facilities. More facilities bring local pushback over land use, noise, water, and rates, while AI use raises separate worry about jobs and privacy. Virginia is trying to manage both ends at once, physical buildings through permits and disclosure and model impacts through task-force review. I have seen this cycle before with PCs, the internet, and cloud, where early friction led to clearer rules. If this process holds, the result could be more predictable projects with clearer operating limits, rather than fewer projects. That predictability is what hyperscale operators, who run very large fleets, and colocation providers, who lease space to many tenants, factor into site choices.
