Albemarle County, Virginia, adopted a data-center zoning exclusion on October 1, 2025. Its status in this snapshot is pending.
The record reads: "Albemarle County proposed a zoning overlay for data centers that would designate five areas as appropriate. The Piedmont Environmental Council raised concerns. The county paused the process in October 2025 to evaluate potential legislation… (datacentertracker.org)."
Details
| Action | Class | Status | Date | MW threshold | Scope | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zoning exclusion | restriction | pending | October 1, 2025 | county-wide | datacentertracker.org |
Jurisdiction type: county. County: Charlottesville city. Dataset: datacentertracker. Snapshot August 15, 2026; documented actions, not a census.
Virginia context
Virginia has 29 documented local actions across 27 jurisdictions in this snapshot. At the state level, the state has a tax action (enacted, June 30, 2026), the state has a ratepayer-protection law (enacted), Dominion Energy territory has a large-load tariff (enacted, July 31, 2026), and Dominion Energy (GS-5) territory has a large-load tariff (enacted, November 25, 2025).
A town that says no to a data center gives up local tax revenue, not jobs: one large campus pays $2M to $90M a year depending on the tax regime, against roughly 50 permanent jobs. The parent piece prices it and lists the conditions that beat a ban.