We have to be much smarter than allowing this lazy, dirty, harmful and irresponsible means of producing power for data centers in Virginia.

It is already infuriating that data centers are demanding so much of Virginia's energy and water! These behemoths cannot be given greater allowance to exacerbate the climate crisis and spew particulates and VOCs into our air.

Far cleaner and more responsible alternatives exist. An obvious one is to immediately institute a moratorium on further data center development in Virginia. Virginia has more than its fair share, and residents of the state are already overburdened by them. No plans for more data centers should proceed unless and until the data centers can build and/or source enough clean energy to meet their needs.  The data industry could help themselves a lot by investing more in R&D on computing efficiencies--quantum computing, better chips, or just not wasting energy on manufacturing AI slop, mining crypto currency and developing  Ani-type bots, all of questionable value to humanity.

 Another alternative is for data centers to run on existing power generation, which could be achieved by improving the grid and fine-tuning management of energy demand.  I like Rewiring America's proposal that energy efficiency upgrades to heat pumps and improved insulation across thousands of households in the Commonwealth could save enough energy to power the data centers.

Another alternative is wind and solar plus battery storage. How stupid that we face an existential climate crisis, but look to fossil fuels instead of to the faster, cleaner, cheaper power provided by sun and wind.  

A related alternative is harnessing rooftop solar plus battery installations across thousands of Virginia homes and businesses, creating virtual power plants.

Under no circumstances should the government of Virginia allow data centers to use their back up generators as their power source.