Virginia orders new data-center planning tools and an AI task force

Virginia's latest data-center initiative directs state agencies to develop tools for communities weighing large projects, including clearer information about electricity, water, noise and traffic.

Governor Abigail Spanberger's September 18 Executive Order 22 gives the Office of the Chief Energy Officer 120 days to publish an initial planning and community-engagement toolkit. It calls for model questions, disclosure templates and approaches to community-benefit agreements.

What residents should watch next

The order directs environmental work on noise, backup-generator emissions and cooling-water pressures, with several agency reports or workplans due within 180 days. It also establishes a rapid-response AI task force addressing matters including privacy, cybersecurity and workforce disruption.

For people following a proposed data center, the distinction is practical: an order setting agency work and deadlines is not the same as a completed rulemaking or a decision on a particular development. The next useful documents will be the toolkit, agency proposals and the local project's own public record.

Read the signed order and follow our government desk.