{
  "id": 8332079,
  "title": "Virginia governor wakes up to fact datacenters have become political cancer",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/18/virginia-governor-wakes-up-to-fact-datacenters-have-become-political",
  "topic": "tech",
  "section": "Tech",
  "published": "2026-09-18T20:16:57.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "The Register Science",
    "slug": "the-register-science",
    "url": "https://www.theregister.com/systems/2026/09/18/virginia-governor-wakes-up-to-fact-datacenters-have-become-political-cancer/5297561"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Virginia is not just for romantic getaways, but it is also a leading destination for datacenters, housing more than any other state in the world. However, the growth of these facilities may be about to face hurdles following Governor Abigail Spanberger's executive order on Friday. The order aims to curb the expansion of datacenters in the state, addressing their impacts on residents and the environment.\n\nSpanberger highlighted that prior to her tenure, Virginia lacked a clear and coordinated plan to manage datacenters' effects. Her executive order is part of a broader framework that seeks to enhance transparency, prohibit non-disclosure agreements, impose limits on permitting, and enforce stricter environmental controls.\n\nThe order calls for local approval for datacenters exceeding 25 megawatts and removes future large datacenters from expedited permitting processes. It also seeks to outline criteria that differentiate responsible datacenter developments from those that could negatively impact residents or the environment. The governor emphasized the importance of these measures, stating that existing policies lacked the specificity needed to hold datacenter builders accountable and protect Virginians.\n\nEnvironmental concerns are also at the forefront of the executive order. It limits the use of water-intensive cooling towers in areas facing water scarcity and encourages datacenter operators to retrofit existing backup generators to cut down emissions or switch to clean energy sources such as battery storage, fuel cells, and other alternatives. This order follows the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors' decision to pause final action on new datacenter and substation applications for up to 12 months. Loudoun County is known for its substantial concentration of datacenters in the state.\n\nThe trend of opposition to datacenter development is gaining momentum across the United States due to concerns about their impact on air quality, noise pollution, water usage, and residents' electricity bills. Tennessee has seen Elon Musk's Colossus 2 datacenter, partially powered by 27 gas turbines from Mississippi, face an NAACP lawsuit for alleged violations of the Clean Air Act. Several states have even gone further and outright blocked the development of new datacenters while local governments work to better understand these structures' potential impacts.\n\nNew York became the first state to temporarily halt datacenter buildouts exceeding 50 megawatts in July, following Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro's executive order blocking datacenter permit applications unless they comply with the Governor's Responsible Infrastructure Development (GRID) requirements. These measures aim to prevent residents from bearing the costs of grid improvements based on speculative demand, much like Virginia's executive order seeks to do.",
  "summary": "Executive order puts the kibosh on NDAs, limits permitting, and calls for stiffer environmental protections",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 2,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "The Register",
        "title": "Virginia governor wakes up to fact datacenters have become political cancer",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/18/virginia-governor-wakes-up-to-fact-datacenters-have-become-political-8334590",
        "published": "2026-09-18T20:16:57.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}