Spanberger said the new budget strikes a balance between ensuring data centers “pay their fair share” while preserving an industry she said is critical to Virginia’s economy and the nation’s technological leadership in an interview with Politico.“There’s a national security implication, and we as a nation don’t want to cede that ground,” Spanberger said. “Walking away from a technology that is going to continue to proliferate is walking away from the table.”
The budget, finalized by lawmakers at the end of June after a monthslong impasse, creates a first-of-its-kind tax on the electricity consumed by data centers, the state’s most energy-intensive industry. The tax is expected to raise up to $600 million annually, or $1.2 billion over the two-year budget. Revenue collected above that cap will be refunded to data center operators at the end of each fiscal year.The measure comes as Virginia grapples with the industry’s explosive growth. According to a 2024 report by the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission, data centers used roughly 5,050 megawatts of electricity that year based on utility forecasts. By the end of 2025, Dominion Energy reported it had received requests for 70,000 megawatts of new large-load electricity service, underscoring mounting pressure on the state’s power grid.
