Virginia Tightens Data Center Rules as Senate Blocks Ratepayer Bill

Virginia Governor Abigail Spanberger signed Executive Order 22 on September 18, requiring community approval for new data centers over 25 megawatts. Four days later, Prince William County voted 8-0 to strip data centers of by-right development status countywide. The same week, the U.S. Senate blocked a bipartisan bill that would have made data centers pay for their own grid upgrades.

• Executive Order 22 bans state agencies from signing NDAs on data center projects
• Prince William County ended by-right development for all future data centers
• About 120 US data center projects worth $198 billion were blocked in 2026
• Senate blocked a bill requiring data centers to fund grid upgrades