Local governments are trying to figure out ways to stop data center development, or at least hit the pause button for a while.
The city of Chesapeake is hitting the pause button on data centers, declaring an eight-month moratorium while they craft new regulations for the water-guzzling, power-hungry facilities. Michelle Ueltschi at the Chesapeake Climate Action Network says data centers have been able to develop "by-right" in Chesapeake without getting a vote of the City Council.
"This loophole only existed because data centers are such a new thing that they hadn't been written into the city code yet," Ueltschi says. "So now that they're adding a special section for data centers and requiring them to get a permit, every single project will have to go through city council, where it will receive public input, which is always a good thing."
Chesterfield County is also ending by-right development of data centers, which means developers will have to get approval from the Board of Supervisors. The same thing is happening in Loudoun County, where legal expert Rich Kelsey lives.
"It will provide the county with better options to negotiate things in return for permitting the building of data centers," says Kelsey. "I think it'll allow the county to control what type of generators they run, but it certainly is not going to end the building of data centers in Loudoun County."
This topic is quickly becoming the number one issue on the campaign trail this election season for city councils and boards of supervisors across Virginia.
