Overview
- Lawmakers approved the two‑year budget and sent the conference report to Gov. Abigail Spanberger after recorded votes in both chambers on Monday, June 22, resolving a months‑long impasse over data‑center policy.
- The plan imposes a temporary electricity consumption charge of $0.011 per kilowatt‑hour for qualifying data centers, caps collections at $600 million a year, runs two years, and refunds any excess receipts at year‑end.
- The budget preserves Virginia’s long‑standing data‑center sales‑and‑use tax exemption, a benefit worth roughly $1.5–$2 billion a year, while adding the new power levy as a compromise revenue source.
- Lawmakers directed the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality to study groundwater and cooling‑water impacts and to develop statewide noise and water‑use rules, and they reallocate about 45% of RGGI revenue into customer bill rebates.
- Industry groups warn the levy will raise operating costs and could affect investment decisions, while supporters say the revenue funds teacher and state employee raises and signals a model other states may follow when regulating energy‑intensive AI and cloud infrastructure.