Virginia Moves to Rein In Data Center Impacts
Virginia Governor Abigail Spanberger unveiled a new package of protections governing data center development on September 18, 2026, pairing an executive order with a broad policy framework. Announced in Richmond, the measures address the environmental and public-information consequences of a sector that has expanded rapidly across the state. The Sierra Club's Virginia Chapter responded with immediate approval, calling the directive the strongest executive action Virginia has ever taken on the environmental effects of data centers.
The order concentrates on four areas that have drawn escalating scrutiny as server farms multiply: air quality, water consumption, clean energy sourcing, and the transparency of the deals that bring such facilities into local communities. According to the Sierra Club, the combined package marks a meaningful break from the hands-off posture the state has taken toward large technology firms building out computing infrastructure.
What the Executive Order Does
The directive is structured around several distinct commitments, each aimed at a different facet of data center operations and siting. Taken together, they establish a more active role for the state in shaping how the industry grows.
- A commitment to pursue a transition away from pollution-intensive Tier II diesel generators used as backup power at data center sites.
- Enhanced opportunities for community input and participation in decision-making around data center development.
- Incentive measures intended to push operators toward clean energy power sources.
- A ban on blanket non-disclosure agreements that conceal basic information about a facility's genuine impact on the surrounding community.
Reining In Diesel Backup Power
Backup generation has become one of the more contentious elements of data center construction. Facilities require reliable power even when the grid falters, and diesel-fired Tier II generators have long been the default solution. The executive order commits the administration to seek a transition away from those units, a shift that would reduce the air quality burden borne by residents living near data center campuses. For communities that have watched generator arrays multiply alongside new construction, the pledge represents the first explicit state-level signal that the technology is no longer considered an automatic given.
Breaking Open the NDA Wall
Perhaps the most consequential element in the package concerns secrecy. Non-disclosure agreements have become routine in negotiations between developers and local governments, and they have frequently prevented residents from learning basic facts about the projects proposed near their homes — how much water a facility will draw, how much energy it will consume, and what emissions it will produce. By prohibiting blanket NDAs, the executive order aims to restore a baseline of public information. The Sierra Club described that step as central to giving communities the tools they need to participate meaningfully in decisions that will shape their surroundings for decades.
Community Voice and Clean Energy Incentives
The framework also widens the channels through which residents can weigh in on proposed developments, moving beyond the narrow notice-and-comment windows that critics say have favored developers. Alongside that, the order introduces incentives designed to steer operators toward clean energy sources rather than fossil-heavy power portfolios. The combination reflects an approach in which the state, rather than treating data centers as an unstoppable force, sets conditions on how they may grow.
An Industry That Pushed Until It Was Forced
Connor Kish, director of the Sierra Club Virginia Chapter, framed the announcement as a correction to years of light-touch oversight. In a statement released in response to the order, Kish argued that the largest technology companies have long been granted a free pass in Virginia. He said those firms have demonstrated repeatedly, when given the opportunity, that they will not voluntarily avoid irresponsible and destructive data center development unless they are compelled to do so. Kish added that the industry is fully capable of operating better, and described the executive order as the start of accountability that is well past due.
Kish also conveyed the organization's appreciation to the governor for what he characterized as a robust and substantive intervention. He noted that the Sierra Club has never seen executive action of this scope directed at the environmental impacts of data centers in Virginia, and he praised the accompanying policy platform as containing significant and important steps toward further reform.
The Data Center Accountability Framework
The executive order arrives alongside a broader proposal, the Data Center Accountability Framework, which the Sierra Club says advances the conversation beyond what any single directive can accomplish. The framework is positioned as a foundation for continued action, setting out a path for additional policy work that would build on the order's initial commitments. Because an executive order can be modified or reversed by future administrations, the framework's significance lies partly in its potential to be translated into durable statutory requirements through the legislative process.
The Sierra Club was explicit that the framework should be read as a beginning rather than an endpoint. In its assessment, the proposal contains major and important forward steps for continued action — language that signals continued engagement from the environmental community rather than a declaration of victory.
What Still Needs to Happen
Despite the praise, the Sierra Club made clear that the order alone will not resolve the problems it identifies. In the organization's view, more policy safeguards and further action from leaders across all branches of government are necessary — both to reverse existing environmental harms associated with data centers and to prevent new ones from emerging. That framing places responsibility not only on the governor's office but also on legislators and regulators who will determine whether the order's ambitions survive contact with implementation.
The distinction matters because data center impacts accumulate over time. Water withdrawals, air emissions from backup generation, and the electricity demand that shapes which power plants run are not one-time consequences; they compound as more facilities come online. Addressing them requires ongoing oversight rather than a single announcement, which is why the Sierra Club's statement paired its commendation with a call for continued and expanded work.
The Road Ahead
The Sierra Club said it looks forward to collaborating with Governor Spanberger, her administration, and members of the General Assembly from both parties as the framework moves toward implementation. That bipartisan framing suggests the organization expects the data center debate to be fought out in the legislature, where incentives, disclosure rules, and backup power standards would need to be codified to outlast a single administration.
For Virginia, the stakes extend beyond environmental policy. The state has become one of the most consequential locations for data center construction, and the rules it adopts could serve as a template for other jurisdictions confronting the same tensions between digital infrastructure demand and local quality of life. If the executive order and the accountability framework are followed by legislative action, Virginia's approach may offer a model for how states can extract transparency and cleaner power commitments from an industry that has rarely offered them voluntarily. If they are not, the order stands as a first step whose durability remains an open question — one the Sierra Club and its allies appear prepared to press in the months ahead.
This article is based on reporting by CleanTechnica. Read the original article.
Originally published on cleantechnica.com
