ALEXANDRIA, Va. — Gov. Abigail Spanberger on Thursday unveiled a data center accountability framework and signed an executive order putting parts of it into effect immediately, in what her office called the most aggressive effort of its kind in the country.
None of that changes the project at Alexandria's western edge, which Fairfax County approved by right before the framework existed.
What the framework does
The centerpiece for localities is a proposal to eliminate by-right approval and require local approval of any data center using more than 25 megawatts of power, regardless of prior project approvals. By-right development means a project that meets zoning requirements can proceed without a discretionary vote.
The framework would also require community benefits agreements between operators and local communities, end state subsidies for data centers in Virginia's site development programs, and remove future large projects from the state's fast-track permitting process.
Executive Order 22, signed Thursday, bans executive branch agencies and employees under the governor's supervision from entering into or requiring non-disclosure agreements for data center projects. It also directs the state to create a planning and community engagement toolkit for local governments, expedite noise regulations, and review diesel and other backup generation.
Other pieces would require utilities to allocate a larger share of transmission and generation costs to data centers and other large power users, limit how much electricity data centers can generate from on-site natural gas, and set standards meant to keep sudden swings in their demand from destabilizing the grid.
The order also creates a state artificial intelligence task force focused on workforce displacement, data privacy and cybersecurity.
Most of the framework requires legislation. Spanberger said she will bring it to the 2027 General Assembly session, which convenes in January. Nothing in it would undo an approval a locality has already granted.
Edsall Road
Starwood Capital Group's Plaza 500 project sits on 34 acres off Edsall Road in Fairfax County, feet from Alexandria's western border and from homes in the Bren Mar neighborhood. Dominion engineers told a Mason District committee in July that the substation is designed to supply 176 megawatts, seven times the threshold in Spanberger's framework. Starwood has filed plans for the first of two buildings, a 226,469-square-foot structure standing 75 feet tall.
The campus is permitted under Fairfax County's light industrial zoning, so it never went before a public body for a vote. House Majority Leader Charniele Herring, who represents part of Alexandria's West End, has told constituents the development is by right based on the property's zoning.
That is the arrangement the governor's framework would end. Under it, a project of that size could not proceed by right regardless of prior approvals, and would require a local approval vote.
Alexandria's rules already work that way. Planning and Zoning Director Paul Stoddard told the Alexandria Times that a data center inside the city would have to be approved by City Council and could not be built by right.
The only public hearing tied to the project is on Dominion Energy's application for the substation that would power it. That hearing was set for Sept. 24 before Dominion asked the Fairfax County Planning Commission to move it to Dec. 2, saying it needed time to answer questions about noise levels, lighting and electromagnetic field emissions. The Save Bren Mar Coalition, which opposes the project, called the delay "a stall tactic meant to quiet public outcry."
Opposition has come from several directions. Alexandria's City Council formally asked the county to deny the substation in an Aug. 3 letter from Mayor Alyia Gaskins, arguing that heavy industrial use that close to dense housing is reason to reject it. Mason District Supervisor Andres Jimenez has asked the commission to recommend denial. U.S. Rep. Don Beyer wrote the commission on July 30 asking it to deny the application, citing "serious concerns about the potential impact of this project on residents." A coalition of 33 civic and environmental groups has urged county planning staff to recommend denial, arguing Starwood and Dominion have not explored alternatives such as co-locating at the nearby Van Dorn substation.
The Save Bren Mar Coalition says the substation would sit 67 feet from the closest homes.
The city has no vote. The land is in Fairfax County.
Starwood has defended the project. A spokesperson for Starwood Digital Ventures told the Alexandria Times the redevelopment is "an essential opportunity for Fairfax County to replace what was once an active, industrial site with a less obtrusive investment," and said the company is working with Dominion and the county to keep the substation "community-conscious and low-impact." Dominion says the substation is needed to serve the site and will improve reliability for surrounding neighborhoods.
The framework also touches something Alexandria residents are already paying for. The proposal to shift more transmission and generation costs onto large power users is aimed at residential ratepayers across the state, including Dominion customers here. Bren Pointe residents argued to the State Corporation Commission, which approved the transmission line serving the site in August 2025, that demand from the data center would raise their bills.
Two legislators quoted in the governor's announcement have Alexandria connections. Del. Alfonso Lopez, D-3rd, whose district covers part of southern Arlington and northern Alexandria, called the executive action "a very positive step forward for any Virginian who values environmental protection and clean energy" and said he expects to work on legislation in the coming session. Lopez chairs the House Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources Committee.
Sen. Jeremy McPike, Alexandria's director of general services, said a new approach is needed "to put Virginians and our neighborhoods first." McPike represents a Prince William County district, where data center development has been among the most contested in the state.
What's next
Spanberger's office says the framework builds on the nation's first statewide energy consumption tax on data centers, signed earlier this year, and on more than a dozen bills tightening rules on backup generators and water use.
The legislation she wants would have to pass the General Assembly in 2027. Republicans and industry groups have resisted some earlier proposals, and the framework's cost-allocation provisions would run through the State Corporation Commission, which regulates Dominion.
Whether Alexandria's delegation carries any of it, and whether the city presses for it, is an open question. Neither the mayor's office nor the city's Richmond delegation had commented on the framework as of Friday afternoon.
The full framework and Executive Order 22 are posted on the governor's website.
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Ryan Belmore is an Alexandria journalist, neighbor, and the founder and publisher of The Alexandria Brief. Send tips and feedback to ryan@alexandriabrief.com.
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