Column: Virginia lawmakers must deliver data center reforms

Michael Town, executive director of the Virginia League of Conservation Voters, penned a column urging Virginia lawmakers to include data center reforms in the state budget. Town emphasizes growing public outrage nationwide and in Virginia over data centers' environmental impact and their contribution to skyrocketing electric bills, citing that 2 out of 3 Virginia voters now oppose data centers. He notes that Northern Virginia, especially Loudoun County, hosts a significant concentration of hyperscale data centers. The column calls on Gov. Abigail Spanberger and the General Assembly to finalize a budget deal that holds the data center industry accountable by requiring clean energy standards, lowering energy costs, and reducing pollution. Town highlights that a single large data center can consume as much energy and water as a small city, straining the power grid and requiring new power plants and transmission lines. He points to Dominion Energy's projection that data centers could double Virginians' power bills by 2045 and increase reliance on fossil fuels. Furthermore, Town addresses the environmental impact, including increased toxic pollution from on-site diesel generators, which sometimes exceed emissions from traditional power plants. He advocates for clean energy procurement and onsite renewable energy to mitigate these issues. The column also criticizes the $1.9 billion in tax incentives provided to the industry without sufficient environmental and community safeguards, asserting that these 'free passes' must end.