Virginia, already the nation’s data-center powerhouse, has become a testing ground for the backlash against the industry’s rapid, noisy and energy-hungry expansion.

On Friday, Democratic Gov. Abigail Spanberger signed Executive Order 22, barring executive-branch officials from signing nondisclosure agreements for data-center projects, accelerating noise rules and ordering a review of backup generation. Her accompanying accountability framework calls for ending some by-right approvals, reducing selected subsidies, adding environmental safeguards and protecting residents from higher power costs. It also creates an AI task force to examine threats including job displacement and data privacy. ¹

Spanberger cast the package as a practical response to a problem that has outpaced Washington. “It’s about delivering a better deal for Virginians,” she said, adding that it would hold “data center companies, developers and operators accountable.” She has promised to seek further restrictions from the General Assembly, including broader limits on secrecy at the local level. ²

The governor’s approach marks a sharper stance toward an industry Virginia has long courted, but it is not a moratorium. The immediate rules apply to future developments, while existing facilities and projects already receiving tax breaks remain outside their reach.

That gap defines the criticism from both environmental campaigners and Democratic lawmakers. Piedmont Environmental Council president Chris Miller said the plan “largely addresses standards on new data centers” while failing to confront what is already built, in the pipeline, and imposing cumulative burdens on communities. ¹

State Sen. L. Louise Lucas, who has fought Virginia’s roughly $2 billion in data-center tax breaks, was blunter: “The Governor is finally feeling the heat but still ignoring the fire.” ²

Outside analysts see more substance than symbolism. NYU’s Scott Babwah Brennen called the order unusually comprehensive, while cautioning that its real force will depend on the rules Virginia ultimately writes. The political fight, in other words, has shifted from whether to act to how far the state is willing to go. ²