Over the last decade, Virginia has given more than one billion dollars of tax incentives for data centers.
Delegate Terry Kilgore is a Republican from Scott County who wants to extend those tax breaks through 2050.
"It's great for business. Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, Georgia. They're all going after our data centers right now," Kilgore says. "And this is something that Virginia has been number one in data centers. In Loudoun County and Prince William, they probably don't want any more. But we do."
But a booming business for data centers in Southwest Virginia would also mean a huge drain on the power grid. Senator Creigh Deeds is a Democrat from Charlottesville who wants to make the tax breaks contingent on energy efficiency standards for the development of new data centers.
"The data centers are the primary reason why we've got such huge energy demand and growth in energy demand. And all I'm saying is that the tax benefit makes sense, but they've got to be more energy efficient, and we've got to find an easier way to the power. We shouldn't pass the cost of that infrastructure on to the consumer."
House and Senate leaders are heading behind closed doors to hash out their differences on this and other issues in a budget conference committee.
This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.
