Prince William

Moratoriums and bans

1. Sept. 22, 2026 Prince William County: Zoning change. Supervisors voted 8-0 for a zoning text amendment that ends most by-right data center development; projects that miss set criteria need a special use permit. Applicants got a 90-day grace period to file. (McGuireWoods, Sept. 24, 2026; datacenterbans.com, Oct. 5, 2026)

Updates, newest first

1. Sept. 22, 2026 Prince William County: Zoning change · Supervisors voted 8-0 for a zoning text amendment that ends most by-right data center development; projects that miss set criteria need a special use permit. Applicants got a 90-day grace period to file. (McGuireWoods, Sept. 24, 2026; datacenterbans.com, Oct. 5, 2026)
2. July 2, 2026 Prince William Digital Gateway · QTS withdrew its appeal, ending the project. (FOX 5 DC, July 2, 2026; The Next Web, July 3, 2026)
3. April 30, 2026 Prince William Digital Gateway · QTS filed an appeal with the Supreme Court of Virginia on the last day allowed. (InsideNoVa, May 2026)
4. April 28, 2026 Prince William Digital Gateway · Compass Datacenters said it would not appeal further. (InsideNoVa, May 2026)
5. April 14, 2026 Prince William Digital Gateway · Supervisors voted unanimously to end the county's defense. The county had spent close to $2 million on it. (InsideNoVa, May 2026; FOX 5 DC, July 2, 2026)
6. March 31, 2026 Prince William Digital Gateway · The Court of Appeals of Virginia unanimously upheld the ruling in cases brought by the Oak Valley Homeowners Association and the American Battlefield Trust. (Virginia Lawyers Weekly, April 1, 2026; FOX 5 DC, July 2, 2026)
7. Sept. 16, 2025 Devlin Technology Park · A three-judge Court of Appeals panel, in an opinion by Judge Lisa M. Lorish, rejected seven Bristow-area residents' claims of arbitrary action and illegal spot zoning. It affirmed the circuit court. (InsideNoVa, Sept. 22, 2025)
8. Aug. 2025 Prince William Digital Gateway · Circuit Judge Kimberly A. Irving voided the rezonings because notice before the hearing was defective. The first required newspaper ad never ran. (Virginia Lawyers Weekly, April 1, 2026)
9. Dec. 2023 Prince William Digital Gateway · After a public hearing of 27 to 29 hours, the Board of County Supervisors approved rezonings covering about 1,790 acres. (Virginia Lawyers Weekly, April 1, 2026; The Next Web, July 3, 2026)
10. Nov. 2023 Devlin Technology Park · Supervisors approved the rezoning after a public hearing on Nov. 28–29, 2023. (InsideNoVa, Sept. 22, 2025)

Statewide

Data center equipment has been exempt from Virginia sales and use tax since 2010 (Va. Code § 58.1-609.3(18)). Qualifying projects must create at least 50 jobs paying at least 150% of the local prevailing wage. The exemption is set to expire in 2035. (Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission (copy posted by Prince William County), Dec. 9, 2024; Hunton Andrews Kurth, July 16, 2026) JLARC's December 2024 study put the exemption's cost at $928.6 million in FY2023, the largest economic-development incentive in the state. JLARC's later incentive review put it at about $1 billion in FY2024, up from $685 million the year before, and close to 80% of all state incentive spending that year. The two FY2023 figures differ and come from separate JLARC reports. (Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission (copy posted by Prince William County), Dec. 9, 2024; The Virginian-Pilot (republished by Governing), Nov. 26, 2025) The 2026–2028 state budget, enacted June 29, 2026, left the exemption in place. It added a tax of 1.1 cents per kilowatt-hour on electricity used by data centers from July 1, 2026, capped at $600 million a year and expiring after June 30, 2028. (Hunton Andrews Kurth, July 16, 2026) In Dominion Energy's biennial review (SCC Case No. PUR-2025-00058, final order Nov. 25, 2025), the State Corporation Commission created rate class GS-5, effective Jan. 1, 2027. It covers customers of 25 MW or more on one site with a load factor of at least 75%. GS-5 customers sign 14-year contracts and pay at least 85% of contracted distribution and transmission demand and 60% of generation demand. (Virginia State Corporation Commission (copy posted by NPR), Nov. 25, 2025; Cardinal News, Nov. 26, 2025; Loudoun Now, Nov. 25, 2025) Executive Order 22, signed Sept. 18, 2026, bars state agencies from signing nondisclosure agreements on data center projects. It also orders work on noise and diesel-generator emissions and names Eastern Virginia a cooling-water-scarcity area. (McGuireWoods, Sept. 24, 2026) Virginia data centers →