Virginia orders agencies to give localities more say on data centres

single source· 1 articles · confidence: medium · first seen 2026-09-18 18:29 UTC

What this means for you

If you are siting or expanding data centre capacity in Virginia, expect the local planning stage to carry more weight and to happen in public. The order pushes agencies that way, but sets no timeline or rule yet. The NDA ban closes off one route to keeping negotiations quiet.

Virginia's governor, Abigail Spanberger, ordered state agencies to take steps that could give local communities a larger say over data centre development and slow the approval process, in a state the report describes as already home to the data centre capital of the world. Executive Order 22 also bars executive branch officials from signing non-disclosure agreements; the report does not say which counterparties the ban covers or what else the order contains. The same announcement creates a state AI task force. Reported 18 September 2026.

Key facts

  • ·Virginia governor Abigail Spanberger issued Executive Order 22, which bans executive branch officials from signing non-disclosure agreements source
  • ·The order directs state government steps that could give local communities a larger say in data centre development and slow approvals source
  • ·The same announcement creates an AI task force for the state source
  • ·The report describes Virginia as already home to the data centre capital of the world source
  • ·The report was published on 18 September 2026 source

What the sources say

  • The Verge AI — Reports the order and the NDA ban, framing both as state-level pushback on data centre growth

Sources

The original reporting. Follow these — they did the work.

← the wire