Spanberger Unveils Virginia Data Center Accountability Framework

✓What's documented Reported directly from Gov. Spanberger's Sept. 18 press conference and the signed text of Executive Order 22, with on-record reaction from legislators, environmental groups and the Data Center Coalition.

Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger unveiled a five-pillar "Data Center Accountability Framework" and signed an executive order banning nondisclosure agreements between data centers and state executive-branch agencies, ahead of the General Assembly's 2027 session. The framework directs utilities to allocate more infrastructure cost onto the data center industry, building on Dominion's new GS-5 rate class and the SCC's transmission-cost tariff order Microsoft is now contesting. Most provisions require legislative action and apply only to new projects, not the more than 600 data centers already operating or under construction in the state.

• Executive Order 22 bans NDAs between data centers and state executive agencies effective immediately; a parallel local-level ban would need General Assembly approval.
• Framework proposes ending by-right local approval for data centers over 25 MW and removing them from Virginia's fast-track permitting process.
• Endorses continued cost allocation onto data centers, building on Dominion's GS-5 rate class and the SCC's transmission-cost tariff, which Microsoft has signaled it may appeal.
• No moratorium on new data center development despite pressure from environmental groups; provisions mostly apply prospectively to new applications, not the 600-plus facilities already built or underway.