RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) -- State Sen. Russet Perry (D-Loudoun) has introduced a bill to be considered during next year’s General Assembly session that she says would pause the approval of new data centers in Virginia for a period of three years, starting July 1, 2027.  Perry says Virginia “can no t continue to shove new data centers down a pipe... that is already flooding over,” and a three-year pause gives Virginia a chance to create guardrails around the industry on water usage, energy and more. “While we’re putting these guardrails around this industry related to pollution, related to siting, relating to water usage, related to transmission lines, while we’re looking at the myriad of issues that surround data centers, we need to stop building them because we already can't sustain what we have,” Perry told 8News.  Meanwhile, the idea of a data center moratorium in Virginia has bipartisan support. State Sen. Glen Sturtevant (R-Colonial Heights) has been calling for a moratorium since July, which he wants to be indefinite. Sturtevant says the General Assembly should take up data center moratorium legislation when lawmakers return to Richmond as part of a special session later this month. Virginia: The World’s Data Center Capital “We need to press pause on the data centers, and we need to address how they are impacting our grid and Virginians' electric bills and impact on our water and our resources,” Sturtevant told 8News.  In a statement on Perry’s bill, Nicole Riley, director of Virginia Government Affairs to the Data Center Coalition, said in part that, “Moratoriums could deprive communities of the opportunity to compete for investment and jobs, jeopardize multibillion projects that are in development, and force jurisdictions to relinquish significant long-term economic investment, high-wage jobs, and critical tax revenue to neighboring states.” 8News asked Gov. Abigail Spanberger’s office about Perry’s bill. A spokesperson for Spanberger sent 8News a statement that did not directly address the idea of a data center moratorium and instead highlighted Spanberger’s recently released “Data Center Accountability Framework," which doesn’t call for a moratorium. The spokesperson said, “Governor Spanberger last month laid out the nation’s most aggressive and comprehensive plan to hold data centers accountable. The Governor looks forward to implementing these nation-leading standards and working with lawmakers to protect the Commonwealth’s natural beauty, make energy more affordable for families, and listen to local communities across Virginia.”  ...read more read less