Western PWC Del. Lovejoy to file five anti-data center bills

With the 2025 legislative session beginning tomorrow, Jan. 10, Delegate Ian Lovejoy (R-22) has issued a news release saying he will submit five unique pieces of legislation aimed at mitigating growing data center impacts, particularly in Prince William County.

“During 2024 Legislative Session, I submitted legislation that would have placed reasonable guard rails on the data center industry, but unfortunately, each piece of legislation was stalled citing the need for further study.” said Lovejoy

“JLARC has concluded its study, and it is abundantly clear that action at the state level is necessary to limit data center development near schools, parks, and neighborhoods. It is also vital we ensure data center developers are paying their fair share of both taxes and power infrastructure costs brought on by the industry.” Lovejoy continued.

Delegate Lovejoy will submit the following pieces of legislation:

- Data Center Siting: No data centers shall be placed within 1000 feet of schools, neighborhoods, or parks.

- Land Use Disclosure: Local government officials who accept campaign contributions from any development corporation shall be prohibited from voting on a project developed by the same company.

- Local Government Requirements: Local governments shall be required to evaluate water use estimates, conduct sound modeling studies to enforce maximum allowable sound levels for operational datacenter facilities, and consider power load demand estimates for proposed datacenter development.

- Addressing the Risk of Generation and Transmission Infrastructure Costs: Dominion Energy shall develop a plan for addressing the risk of generation and transmission infrastructure costs from data centers to prevent cost increases for rate paying residents, andDominion Energy shall file this plan with the SCC.

- Suspension of Data Center Sales Tax Exemption in Northern Virginia: A moratorium on new data center builds in Norther Virginia through suspension of the data center sales tax exemption

Lovejoy concluded -

“This is a top concern for HD-22. We campaigned against out-of-control industry development, and the JLARC study confirmed what we all knew: Data center development is not compatible with residential areas and stresses our power grid. It’s time for the General Assembly to take action to protect our constituents from the dangers and rate increases this industry has created.”