Virginia governor creates an AI task force and moves to restrain data centers — SkimNews
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- Gov. Abigail Spanberger signed Executive Order 22, which bans executive branch officials from signing NDAs on data center projects, requires expedited noise regulations, and mandates a review of backup-generation operations at data centers.
- The order establishes an AI task force charged with evaluating workforce displacement, data privacy risks, and how existing law can be applied to AI harms.
- Spanberger unveiled a separate "Data Center Accountability Framework" that includes eliminating by-right approval like Loudoun County's long-standing rule, removing some state subsidies, setting environmental guardrails, and shielding residents from energy price hikes tied to data centers.
- Piedmont Environmental Council president Chris Miller said the order "largely addresses standards on new data centers and does not deal with what's already built and in the pipeline, along with the ongoing impacts piling up in communities now," reflecting advocates who wanted a moratorium.
- California Gov. Gavin Newsom issued his own AI safety executive order the same day, while New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott have previously taken executive action to rein in rapid data center development.
Why it matters: Virginia, already the world's largest data center market, is the highest-profile state to use executive authority to slow approvals and curb data center power and noise burdens on residents. The action, alongside parallel moves in California, New York, and Texas, shows states filling a vacuum as Congress and the Trump administration have resisted sweeping AI and data center rules — but critics like the Piedmont Environmental Council argue the order fails to address the roughly 1,000+ megawatts of capacity already approved and under construction.
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