RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — Several bills aimed at reforming Virginia’s rapidly growing data center industry are failing to advance in the General Assembly. More than 50 data center–related bills were introduced this session, targeting issues such as state oversight, transparency and ratepayer protections. But several key proposals have already stalled or been killed in committee, even as public concern over the industry’s expansion continues to grow. “The public is confident that

Will this be the year the Virginia General Assembly takes action to rein in unconstrained data center development? To date, our state leaders have failed to protect Virginians from the short- and long-term effects of reckless data center growth. Currently, there is no overarching state plan to manage the cumulative impacts on our energy costs, our air quality and our natural resources. Until meaningful reform legislation is passed, Virginia needs to pause all approvals of new

Over the past few years, millions of Americans have seen their electricity bills skyrocket. Since February 2020, electricity prices have increased by an average of 40 percent across the country. In some areas, the rate is even faster — in Washington, D.C., electricity costs increased 93 percent from July 2020 to July 2025. But the rise in costs hasn’t affected each type of user equally. According to recent data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA), residential ele

“We are all asking: Where are the people we elected who promised to protect us from these big corporations trying to steamroll us? The people who are supposed to be standing up and protecting us are standing down and caving.” Anger over the perceived trampling of communities by Silicon Valley has entered the national political conversation and could affect voters of all political persuasions in this year’s midterm elections.
Many of the residents fighting the project in Sand