Critical Final Push – SB619 and SB339

Posted onAuthorKaren Sheehan

Dear Coalition Friends and Supporters,

**Thank you to the Piedmont Environmental Council for putting this information together**:

The Virginia Data Center Reform movement is in high gear and we need your help with calls and emails to your legislators now! Your willingness to contact your legislators and members representing the whole Commonwealth on committees that are considering data center legislation makes a big difference.

Many of the data center reform bills introduced this General Assembly session have been killed, but two critical pieces of legislation still have a good chance of passing early next week if we can garner enough support in the House of Delegates.

SB619 and SB339 passed the Senate, and we expect the House will start voting on these bills as early as this Tuesday, Feb. 24. We believe these bills are “keystone” pieces of legislation that would finally bring state-level oversight to the data center industry. Unfortunately, the House rejected their companion bills a couple of weeks ago. So that means this is their second chance.

 

  • SB619 would provide state oversight to evaluate and plan for the far-reaching regional impacts of data center development affecting neighboring jurisdictions and state policies.
  • SB339 would establish ratepayer protections that ensure average residents and businesses aren’t shouldering industry risks and subsidizing the operation of the wealthiest companies in the world.

 

Final Push: Urge Your Delegate to Support SB619 and SB339

 

1. Call Your Delegate’s Office
Making a short phone call or leaving a voicemail with your delegate’s office will be more impactful than sending an email. Your message doesn’t need to be long. It can be as simple as “Hi my name is _____ and I live in _____. I’m concerned about the impacts of data centers and want to urge Delegate ______ to support SB619 and SB339. Thank you.” You can also talk about your own experience with data centers or use the talking points in this email if you’d like to expand on that.

> Find the phone number for your delegate’s Richmond office at pecva.org/electedofficials.

 

2. Send a Letter
If you are unable to make a phone call, we’ve made it easy to send an email through advocacy webpage, which auto-populates with your delegate based on your address information.

Once you customize the letter with your personal experiences about how data centers have impacted you (optional, but extremely impactful), with one click, it is sent directly to your delegate.

*This is a new campaign, so even if you have already sent in a letter to your senator or delegate, please use our new form letter.

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