By ADAM ATON, Politico
A budget fight in Virginia is testing whether Democrats can win at data center politics.
Some Democrats say ending the tax breaks, which have made northern Virginia into the densest concentration of data centers in the world, is a commonsense way to raise over a billion dollars for other state spending.
But other Democrats have balked, including Gov. Abigail Spanberger, who warns that reversing the tax breaks could drive away an industry that’s brought in billions of dollars for local and state coffers.
The fight in the industry’s heartland shows just how difficult data center politics have become as voters increasingly blame artificial intelligence for rising electricity bills, even as states compete to attract tech company investments.
The backlash
Maine last week became the first state to pass a moratorium on new data centers, which now awaits action from Democratic Gov. Janet Mills. Washington Democratic Gov. Bob Ferguson this month also signed legislation to wind down his state’s data center subsidies.
The backlash against data centers has been even greater in local elections, including a Missouri town that ousted half its city council this month after officials approved a $6 billion data center.
But elsewhere, that black-and-white picture looks a lot more gray.
