Virginia senator Russet Perry proposes three-year data center moratorium

A Virginia state senator has proposed a three-year moratorium on data center planning approvals in what Data Center Dynamics calls the industry's largest market. Russet Perry, a Democrat representing Loudoun County, proposed the pause in Senate Bill 843; if enacted, it would stop state agencies from approving data center planning applications for three years from July 1, 2027.

Perry said the moratorium is designed to give Virginia's lawmakers time to draw up rules for data center development, according to comments reported by the Loudoun Times-Mirror. She listed rising electric bills for families, transmission lines near homes, schools, churches and farms, and a grid she said lacks the infrastructure to protect it and meet the facilities' electricity demand. "We cannot keep rubber-stamping new data centers when we can't even manage the ones already built," she said, adding that protections were needed for communities, natural resources and ratepayers.

Loudoun County is introducing a 12-month data center moratorium of its own, and neighboring Prince William County is bringing in tighter planning controls for new projects. Statewide moratoriums have also been introduced in New York, Texas and Oregon, with other states proposing similar measures, according to Data Center Dynamics. The outlet describes Northern Virginia as having been at the heart of the industry for years, while the region, like many parts of the US, sees a backlash against new AI data center projects. In August, Perry and Republican senator Richard Stuart called for a review of the strain Virginia's data centers put on the state's groundwater supply.

Governor Abigail Spanberger has stopped short of backing a moratorium, but introduced a Data Center Accountability Framework last month. The framework bans non-disclosure agreements for new projects and calls for the development of regulations around the noise data centers create.

That leaves developers reading rules from three directions: a proposed statewide pause on approvals starting in mid-2027, county-level limits in Loudoun and Prince William, and a governor's framework aimed at project disclosure and noise rather than the pace of permitting.