Virginia Moves to Ban Secret AI Data Center Deals as Neighbors Fight Rising Power Bills

The Economic Times on 18 September 2026 reprinted a Reuters report that Virginia Governor Abigail Spanberger announced a Data Center Accountability Framework. The plan targets secrecy around new server warehouses and the hit those energy-hungry sites put on household power bills and the environment.

This is a governor's framework unveiled at a Friday press conference. It is not a finished statewide statute for every element, and it is not a federal bill. Spanberger said part of the package still needs approval from state legislators next year.

Virginia already hosts the world's largest concentration of data centers. The framework would ban nondisclosure agreements on data center projects of 25 megawatts or more, tighten permitting, commercial and environmental controls, and offer incentives for solar and wind backup generators instead of natural gas or diesel.

"Community members are demanding action," Spanberger said. Governors in New York, Texas and Pennsylvania have taken similar recent steps against rapid data-center expansion for AI training and rollout.

The state move sits next to, and is distinct from, the federal House Ratepayer Protection Act on data-center power costs. Related capacity tape includes Pentagon talks on a $5 billion Fluidstack loan.

If you site or finance a Virginia campus of 25 megawatts or more, drop any assumption that an NDA will keep the deal secret, and treat the 2027 legislative session as the gate for the pieces that still need a statute.