In the pre-dawn hours in a Haymarket parking lot, a few dozen people huddled in record cold temperatures as they made their way to the warm glow of a charter bus. Their destination: Richmond. Their mission: convince legislators to enact data center reform during the 2025 General Assembly session.
General Assembly
Find out more about what we are tracking during Virginia’s annual legislative session.
General Assembly Update – Spring 2025
Every day, Piedmont Environmental Council staff engage at the local, state and federal level to shape public policy with an eye toward protecting natural resources and advancing sustainability. These efforts include the annual Virginia General Assembly, which convened on Jan. 8 for a short session during which legislators introduced and considered over 2,000 pieces of legislation.
Exploring New Public Parks in the Piedmont
Conserved public spaces have measurable impacts on our lives: research shows that spending time outdoors improves both physical and mental health, and can even improve students’ grades, lower blood pressure and drive economic growth. If you enjoy outdoor adventures like I do, lace up your boots and come with me as we explore a couple of these new parks that opened in 2024, as well as one potential future park.
Proposed Oak Hill State Park Hangs in the Balance
We need your support to make Oak Hill State Park a reality — please write and call your legislators today!
Take Action: Show Support for These Data Center Reform Bills
As we move to the final days of this year’s General Assembly session, a few very important pieces of legislation related to data center reform are still being considered by conference committees and voted on.
A Historic Opportunity: Help Make Oak Hill Virginia’s Newest State Park
We have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to create an expansive new state park in Loudoun County, a proposed park that will protect a National Historic Landmark and offer easy access to the outdoors for millions of visitors to and residents of Northern Virginia.
A Critical Time to Weigh In on Data Center Legislation in Virginia
Things continue to move fast during the third week of this year’s Virginia General Assembly session. We’re making real progress on data center reform, but we need you to weigh in with your state legislators!
General Assembly has opportunity to create a Smarter Digital Future for Virginia
Several pieces of legislation have been introduced to reform data center development and protect Virginia ratepayers.
The 2025 Virginia General Assembly is in Session.
An overview of the topics that PEC has its eye on this session: data center reform, land conservation and public access, solar implementation, housing and local land use authority
Four Pillars of Data Center Reform
Without strong regulatory and legislative intervention, the risks and costs of the immense infrastructure supporting data centers is destined to be passed on to all ratepayers, including other businesses and residents.