Franklin County Board of Supervisors / Planning, in Franklin County, Virginia, adopted a data-center conditions measure on May 6, 2026. Its status in this snapshot is pending.
The record reads: "Franklin County reviewing a 400-page zoning rewrite that would restrict data centers to specific zones, ban private well use for cooling, and limit cooling noise. Franklin County Community Coalition raising concerns the county is also… (datacentertracker.org)."
Details
| Action | Class | Status | Date | MW threshold | Scope | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conditions ordinance | condition | pending | May 6, 2026 | county-wide | datacentertracker.org |
Jurisdiction type: municipality. County: Franklin County. 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.