With water once again flowing in Richmond, the General Assembly convened for our first full week of session in 2025.
We kicked off the week with the Governor’s State of the Commonwealth Address and closed things out with legislative work in the Courts of Justice Committee, which is handling several of my fifteen bills.
Keep reading for more details on this week in the General Assembly, and do not hesitate to reach out to me if there is any issue you would like on my radar or anything my office can do to assist you.
HD6 Constituents Spotted in Richmond
Speaking directly with constituents about the issues most important to them is one of the highlights of my job as a Delegate. If you find yourself in Richmond during this year’s session, be sure to stop by Room 908 and say hello to me and my team and sign our visitor log.
Virginia Affiliate of the American College of Nurse-Midwives
Karen Kelly, President of the Virginia Affiliate of the American College of Nurse-Midwives and a McLean resident, stopped by to discuss legislation which would expand access to midwives throughout Virginia.
Virginia Society of Certified Public Accountants
Members of the Virginia Society of Certified Public Accountants and fellow Fairfax residents came by the office to discuss workforce development issues facing CPAs .
Legislative Highlight – HB 2578 – Data Center Efficiency
This week I am highlighting HB 2578, which would tie Virginia data centers’ tax exempt status to meeting stronger energy efficiency and clean energy standards. At a recent press conference highlighting data center legislation, I spoke about the importance of passing my bill.
My full remarks can be found here.
Data centers located in the Commonwealth are exempt from state sales and use taxes.
This exemption has made Virginia the data center capital of the nation, if not the world. And there is a growing consensus in Richmond and around the state that they should be subject to stronger guidelines to safeguard our citizens and our electric grid.
According to a recent JLARC study, one of the most pressing issues presented by the rapid growth in data centers is the increased demand they are putting on our power grid.
Servers housed in these facilities draw large amounts of power and produce a tremendous amount of heat, requiring them to draw even more energy to cool them.
In the event of a power outage, data centers rely on inefficient diesel generators, which also have to be tested regularly, pumping noxious exhaust directly into the communities that surround them.
There are many different efforts to address data centers this year. My bill specifically focuses on energy efficiency. If we are going to build more data centers in Virginia, I believe they should be required to operate as efficiently as possible.
HB 2578 would require data centers to:
Increase Energy Efficiency – Invest in and improve the energy efficiency of their own operations
Phase Out Dirty Diesel Generators – Replace inefficient and dirty diesel backup generators with alternative generators meeting stricter emissions standards by 2027
Rely On Renewable Energy – Source a portion of their power from renewable sources and increase their reliance on renewable energy each year, aiming for 100% renewable energy use within 15 years
Read the full report here: https://app.indigov.com/pub/outreach/f7f3d687-b8e4-4336-afc7-f6a7a7e244f2
