TL;DR
Virginia Governor Abigail Spanberger signed an executive order on September 18, 2026, launching what she calls the most comprehensive data center accountability framework in the country, targeting by-right approvals, NDAs, and AI risks while signaling tougher legislation ahead.
What happened
- Gov. Spanberger signed an executive order in Richmond eliminating by-right approvals for future data centers in Virginia, the nation's largest data center market.
- The order bans nondisclosure agreements for executive branch agencies, departments, boards, commissions, and employees under the governor's supervision tied to future data center deals.
- A state AI Task Force is created, led by the chief transformation officer, governor's counsel, and secretary of administration, to address job displacement, data privacy, and cybersecurity risks.
- The Virginia Department of Environmental Quality must deliver findings on environmental impacts, including water and energy use, within 180 days.
- Spanberger confirmed 2027 General Assembly legislation will follow, including a bill to ban all by-right data center approvals statewide. A prior compromise already secured a $600 million power usage tax on data centers and large electricity customers.
Why it matters
- Virginia is the global epicenter of data center density, so policy shifts here reverberate across the entire industry's site-selection calculus.
- Eliminating by-right approvals forces every future project through discretionary review, adding time, cost, and community veto power to what has been a frictionless permitting environment.
- The NDA ban breaks a pattern of opaque local deals, giving community boards and councils full visibility into projects before votes, a direct response to grassroots pressure.
- The AI Task Force signals Virginia intends to regulate AI's societal footprint at the state level, explicitly noting federal inaction as a driver: "We simply aren't sure the federal government is going to act on this."
- Industry groups push back, citing data centers at 0.5% of state water withdrawals and below-average electric rates, but environmental groups warn of facilities using millions of gallons per day and grid strain flagged by Dominion Virginia.
What to watch next
- 2027 General Assembly session: whether the statewide by-right ban clears both chambers and survives industry lobbying from the Data Center Coalition.
- DEQ's 180-day environmental report: findings could set binding thresholds on water use and emissions that reshape project economics across the state.
- Other states copying the framework: Spanberger's explicit claim of national leadership invites imitation, and any major operator announcing a Virginia pullback would test whether the policy has real teeth.
Originally published on Present of AI, a daily source-linked AI news timeline. Read the full timeline or browse the open dataset.