After big wins on election night, Democrats will have to decide whether easing requirements in the state’s ambitious climate law will be necessary to maintain Virginia’s status as the “data center capital of the world.”
Chris Miller, with the Piedmont Environmental Council, which works to preserve Virginia’s countryside, said the election’s results made it clear that lawmakers need to “take a hard look” at the impact of data center development.
A senior attorney at the Southern Environmental Law Center, which represents environmental groups in Dominion rate cases, said his group is looking for “smart growth” in data centers, and “easing the fossil fuel restrictions in the VCEA would only help pad corporate profits. It would be terrible for Virginians.
“We need to make sure communities are on board and that we can power this industry in a way that’s good for Virginians,” said Nate Benforado, the senior attorney. “If we aren’t proactive, and let utilities go all-in on a risky gas buildout, energy bills will skyrocket, air pollution will increase, and our communities will be put in harm’s way—all for an industry that could be in the middle of a market bubble
7·16 days ago