Data Center Accountability Framework

Governor Spanberger's Data Center Accountability Framework sets a new national standard, ensuring growth delivers clean energy, lower costs, and real benefits for every Virginian.

As Virginia's data center industry has grown at remarkable speed, communities across the Commonwealth have raised important questions — about what these facilities mean for their electric bills, their water supplies, their neighborhoods, and their quality of life. Governor Abigail Spanberger has listened carefully to those voices. She recognizes that this industry is a vital part of Virginia's economy and technological future, and that the path forward requires partnership and accountability.

The Data Center Accountability Framework (DCAF) reflects that balance. Built around five core principles, it sets clear, high standards for transparency, environmental stewardship, fair energy costs, grid reliability, and quality jobs — ensuring that as the industry grows, it does so in a way that strengthens communities rather than straining them. This is a framework designed for the long term: durable, pragmatic, and rooted in the belief that Virginia can lead the nation in both innovation and accountability.

Chief Energy Officer Josephus Allmond will be responsible for leading the implementation of this framework. Each principle expands into specific actions and measurable standards that define what responsible data center development and operation looks like in the Commonwealth:

Communities must have transparent information and a meaningful seat at the table in decisions about local, proposed data center development and they must know that investments will deliver tangible local value. This is especially true for environmental justice communities. The Commonwealth will provide resources to empower communities to make the best decisions for their localities.

Ban non-disclosure agreements that keep communities in the dark regarding potential or planned commercial data center development.
Strengthen local control by requiring local approval of any data center using more than 25 megawatts of power regardless of prior project approvals.
Require community benefits agreements between the data center operator and a local community as part of development deals so residents see real, tangible benefits from projects built near their homes.
End state subsidies for data centers on Virginia’s site development programs and remove large data centers from Virginia’s fast-track permitting process.
Empower communities to negotiate strong, community-centered agreements with data center developers through assistance and other resources.
Establish the Virginia Local Energy and Accountable Data Centers (“VA-LEAD”) designation standards to improve transparency and community understanding by distinguishing and encouraging current and prospective data centers to exceed requirements on clean energy, water stewardship, grid support, and community benefits.
Promote and encourage data center development that measurably improves surrounding communities by prioritizing the protection of historic and cultural resources and through better aesthetic design, landscaping, buffers, and other neighborhood-focused improvements.

Our air, our water, our natural resources and public health cannot and will not be afterthoughts. Data center projects must now meet higher standards for emissions, water stewardship, noise, land use, and cumulative community impacts.

Establish strong, transparent, and nation-leading standards for data center energy efficiency, water use, land impacts, and backup generation.
Set clear water-use standards for these facilities to lower overall water consumption and improve efficiency of water usage backed by stronger state agency enforcement against violations.
Expedite the new state noise regulations for data centers.
Expedite the new cooling water scarcity areas regulations for data centers.
Perform cumulative impacts analysis for the diesel backup generators these facilities rely on and require existing and future facilities to move to cleaner backup power to help mitigate air pollution — Tier IV or better.
Identify options for reducing the impacts of data centers, including associated transmission lines, on Virginia’s scenic and historic landscapes and for mitigating impacts when they are unavoidable.
Encourage data center investment in water-positive developments that replenish water supplies to local watersheds.
Promote projects that reuse water and recover waste heat with nearby businesses and industries, creating local economic value while reducing resource use.
Encourage lower-impact data center development by prioritizing brownfields and edge facilities and focusing on low-impact site design, such as minimizing land disturbance, reducing environmental impacts of impervious surfaces, and maximizing tree cover.
Develop proactive strategies for end-of-life decommissioning of data centers.

Virginia families and small businesses should not foot the bill for the data center industry. Data centers must pay their fair share for the infrastructure investments their operations require to help lower — not raise — energy costs for Virginia households and other customers.

Require all utilities to allocate a more equitable share of electric transmission and generation costs to data centers and other large load customers — including by advocating for models like probability-of-dispatch in future SCC rate cases.
Require stronger upfront financial commitments from developers, so speculative projects do not tie up land, resources, and energy infrastructure without ever getting built.
Advocate for fair cost allocation practices with PJM Interconnection — the nation’s largest grid operator — to address rising energy costs driven by data centers, including by working with other states in the PJM territory and establishing additional state protections where needed.

Virginia has ambitious clean energy goals, and data center development cannot come at the expense of those goals. Data centers must be active partners alongside our utilities to spur innovation by supporting new clean generation, energy efficiency, and flexible demand. Their development should strengthen — not weaken — grid optimization, resilience, and reliability.

Limit the amount of electricity data centers can generate from on-site natural gas or behind-the-meter gas generation to the maximum extent practicable and close the loopholes that allow these emissions to bypass Virginia's clean-air standards and avoid paying into the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI).
Make sure the best actors are at the front of the line: prioritize grid access for data centers that source clean energy 5 years faster than the Virginia Clean Economy Act, reduce emissions from backup generators by 60%, and have at most a de minimis allowance for on-site natural gas generation. For operators that receive priority grid access and then fail to comply with these terms, double the electricity consumption tax as a penalty.
Make it easier for data centers to bring their own clean power, including by reforming utility charges that discourage investment in or procurement of clean-energy resources.

Protect grid reliability by requiring data centers to meet standards that prevent sudden changes in their electricity demand from destabilizing the grid.

Require and ensure the ability of data centers, new and existing, to support grid reliability through greater flexibility, including local clean energy and battery projects.
Develop a strategy to prevent and reduce methane emissions across the supply chain and support verified low-emissions gas.

The growth of any industry in Virginia should result in quality, local jobs, workforce training opportunities, prioritized local procurement, infrastructure improvements, and long-term community economic growth.

Prioritize local hiring and encourage localities to set hiring and workforce training goals for their communities.
Prioritize Virginia businesses in procurement and contracting.
Support strong labor practices through responsible contractor standards and apprenticeship programs for new developments.
Empower workers by supporting project labor agreements where possible.

Taking Action on AI: Virginia’s Artificial Intelligence Task Force

In addition to her executive action on data center development, Governor Spanberger is actively identifying ways to ensure that any advancements in AI technology are made safely and responsibly. Virginians are rightfully concerned about how rapidly this industry has grown in recent years, and federal action is uncertain.

The Executive Order creates Virginia’s AI Task Force, led by the Chief Transformation Officer, Counsel to the Governor, and Secretary of Administration.
The Task Force will work to develop policy and legislative proposals to address and regulate several of the risks posed by AI — including workforce displacement, data privacy, and cybersecurity.
Recognizing that federal efforts are necessary to regulate AI nationally, Governor Spanberger has called upon Congressional leadership to take federal action to regulate AI immediately.

PREVIOUS ACTIONS TAKEN

Building on Virginia's Record of Progress

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Executive Action

Executive Order 22

Establishing New Nation-Leading Standards and Initiatives to Implement the Virginia Data Center Accountability Framework and Responding to Unprecedented Risk From Artificial Intelligence.

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Summary