Virginia Governor Creates AI Task Force and Tightens Data Center Rules

Summary

Virginia Governor Abigail Spanberger signed an executive order that gives local communities a larger role in data center development and could slow approvals in a state that is already a major data center hub. Executive Order 22 bars executive branch officials from signing nondisclosure agreements for data center projects, requires expedited noise regulations, and calls for a review of backup-generation operations. It also creates an AI task force to examine workforce displacement, data privacy, and how existing law can address harms caused by AI. A separate Data Center Accountability Framework calls for ending some forms of by-right approval, reducing certain state subsidies, adding environmental safeguards, and protecting residents from energy-price increases associated with data centers. The order comes as states take more independent action on AI and data center policy while Congress and the Trump administration have been slow or resistant to broad changes. Environmental groups welcomed parts of the plan, but the Piedmont Environmental Council said it does not sufficiently address existing facilities, projects already in the pipeline, or impacts communities are currently experiencing.