Bacon's Rebellion

  • Assembly To Data Centers: “Here’s Your Hat, There’s the Door”

    Posted on

    by

    Steve Haner

    By Steve Haner,

    The energy regulatory provisions buried in the final conference report on Virginia’s 2026-2028 budget, approved by the General Assembly Monday, are as complex and detailed as any of the energy bills reviewed earlier during the regular session. They are also just as damaging. 

    The data center industry was a particular target.  The political fights over its partial sales and use tax exemption and its sources of energy were not resolved at all, but another new tax and a host of new regulations are now imposed on just these companies.  A harsh but clear message was sent. 

    Why even have a 60-day General Assembly session if all the big decisions are made in a closed room in a delayed budget negotiation?  This conference report could not be amended, could not be divided into separate votes on separate provisions, and was “must pass” because the June 30 deadline is next week.  The public disenfranchisement was total.  

    All the headlines are focused on the new consumption tax imposed on the data centers effective July 1, which is similar and in addition to an existing state and local energy consumption tax.  The additional tax of 1.1 cent per kilowatt hour will raise $600 million in each of the next two years and then sunset, but this tax likely will only go away if something even more detrimental to the industry is adopted. 

    Three things are important to note about that new consumption tax.  (more…)

  • Spanberger Admin Proposes Extending Virginia’s Lowest-in-Nation English and Math State Standards for 2 More Years

    Posted on

    by

    Todd Truitt

    After years of delays, the proposed additional delay sets up a likely strong push for another delay in 2 years by powerful lobbying groups for those who work in the K-12 system…at the expense of Virginia students and parents

    As a supporter of Governor Abigail Spanberger, I’ve been impressed by much of the new administration’s promises on the campaign trail and in their first day executive order on higher expectations for Virginia’s public schools.

    The administration’s upcoming presentation to the Virginia Board of Education on the Assessment and Accountability Roadmap attempts to confirm this commitment. The presentation lays out their administration’s policy plans in detail, with multiple strong accountability elements and repeatedly affirms a commitment to higher expectations.

    Unfortunately, the same presentation’s proposal to delay any increase in the minimum thresholds for “passing” state English and Math standardized tests (“cut scores”) by two more years does the exact opposite. Instead, they propose changing the 4-year gradual cut score hikes scheduled to begin this fall into a single large increase in Fall 2028-2029 to coincide with implementation of accountability changes and new assessments. One can see the “stakeholder” voices—school administrators and teachers associations—almost certainly arguing in a couple years that it’s “too much at once” and lobbying for yet another delay or another long phase-in.

    Spanberger administration proposal
    Source: Virginia Department of Education, June 2026

    Virginia’s cut scores have embarrassingly remained the lowest in the nation for years, and this proposed move extends that embarrassing distinction even further. In the best-case scenario, the proposal is a politically naïve concession to the powerful K-12 lobby. In the worst-case scenario, it is a policy giveaway to those who are employed by and administer the public school system and their powerful lobbyists. In either case, Virginia students and families will pay the price if such proposal is enacted by the Board in August.

    (more…)

  • Amazon Data Centers Now Use Less Water

    Posted on

    by

    James A. Bacon

    Plus, in Virginia they spawn tax cuts for homeowners.

    A cartoon illustration of a server tower standing on a tiled floor with water around it, featuring a straw inserted into the server that is submerged in the water.
    Data center sipping water. Image credit: Grok

    by Hans Bader

    Amazon’s data centers are using water more efficiently than in the past. A company report shows that “Amazon’s data centers used just 0.12 liters of water per kilowatt-hour of compute in 2025, about one-seventh of the industry average and less than half of Amazon’s rate of 0.25 liters in 2021,” notes The Doomslayer.

    Amazon News says that

    When data centers use water for cooling, one of the most important metrics is how efficiently they use that water—meaning how little water they use for each unit of compute. Amazon announced that its global data center operations used just 0.12 liters of water per kilowatt-hour (L/kWh) in 2025, a rate that’s over 7x more efficient than the industry average of 0.84 L/kWh.

    In other words, we use far less water per unit of compute than others in the global data center industry, which as a whole accounts for less than 0.5% of all industrial water use globally.

    And we’re continuing to get even more efficient year over year. These efficiency gains are the result of years of investment in custom cooling technology, smarter systems, and a commitment to minimize water use wherever possible.

    A think-tank says that “the total water use of all U.S. data centers constitutes less than 0.5% of American freshwater use and there is not a single instance of AI infrastructure raising water prices anywhere in America. AI data centers are a boon for the country, driving economic growth.” The largest U.S. data center consumed less water than three square miles of farmland did.

    (more…)

  • Spanberger’s Slow Start

    Posted on

    by

    James A. Bacon

    A woman in a red blazer is reading a document while standing in front of Virginia state flags.

    by Rich Tucker

    Imagine for a moment that you’re at a Donald Trump rally. As you approach the event, you come across a Republican protester wearing an anti-Trump mask and carrying a “No more wars” sign. Perhaps the person is also accusing the president of being too cozy with corporations.

    Does that sound unlikely?

    Well, outside a Democratic meeting this week—an event sponsored by a Democrat state senator and featuring an appearance by L. Louise Lucas, the president pro tempore of the Senate and the state’s most influential lawmaker—stood the Virginia Democratic Party’s version of just such a protester.

    This Democrat sported a cardboard image of the Democrat governor wearing a mock tiara that said: “Diva Data Center.” The protester was holding a “No more data centers” sign and hinted the governor is too close to Dominion Energy. The protester wasn’t shunned for shaming a governor from her own party; other rally-goers seemed to welcome her presence.

    The governor’s rift with Democrats goes deeper.

    (more…)

  • If We Ban the AR-15, Perhaps We Should Restrict Hands and Feet As Well

    Posted on

    by

    James A. Bacon

    by Ken Stiles

    A black rifle positioned next to a human hand and foot, all arranged on a flat surface.
    Which kills more Virginians each year? AR-15s or hands and feet? Image credit: Grok

    “We have finally reached a place where we have a critical mass of legislators who are willing to vote for bills that save lives – not that you hope will save lives, but bills that are written based on data and evidence, and empirically we know they save lives,”

    So said Governor Abigail Spanberger about legislation, which she signed, that restricts the sale and purchase of the AR-15 style rifle/carbine in Virginia.

    Delegate Dan Helmer, D-Fairfax Station had this to say:

    “Weapons similar to those I carried in Iraq and Afghanistan should not be trafficked in our commonwealth. … I think the high-capacity magazines that so oftentimes have been involved in instances of mass shootings that lead to mass death should be removed from Virginia.”

    Spanberger said she was signing HB 217 into law “because firearms designed to inflict maximum casualties do not belong on our streets.”

    But she admitted that the AR-15 holds a special place in America when she added, “While the General Assembly chose not to adopt my amendment that specifically carves out certain firearms frequently used for hunting, I will work with the patrons to clarify this language.”

    The rhetoric echoed that of Vice President Harris, speaking in May 2022: “You know what an assault weapon is? You know how an assault weapon was designed? It was designed for a specific purpose – to kill a lot of human beings quickly. An assault weapon is a weapon of war with no place, no place in a civil society.”

    All of the above, except the governor’s caveat about the special carve out are based on emotional dribble grounded on lies and ignorance.

    Let’s examine a few facts:

    (more…)

  • RGGI Rebates for Some Ordered in New Budget Language

    Posted on

    by

    Steve Haner

    The pending conference report on adopting a new Virginia state budget includes a process to rebate the cost of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative’s carbon tax, but only to smaller customers and only if their utility is charging them for it directly.

    The states currently in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative tax compact.

    Larger energy users, especially the largest industrial, commercial and data customers, will still pay in full. The full economic impact of the tax on electricity prices in general will be unchanged, and RGGI raises energy costs across the board in Virginia. 

    The complicated rebate process outlined in one paragraph in the budget section on the Department of Environmental Quality would apply only if the utility paying the RGGI carbon tax to run its hydrocarbon power plants then collects the tax from its customers through a special charge on monthly bills.

    This might apply only to customers of Dominion Energy Virginia, which has applied to the State Corporation Commission for a 1.3 cent per kilowatt hour “rate adjustment clause” on all its customers. Appalachian Power Company, serving parts of Western Virginia, pays very little RGGI tax on just one in-state plant and has not used a RGGI rider to collect the funds from customers. Maybe now it will do so. There is no provision for rebates to rural cooperative customers, and again, the RGGI cost has not been segregated on their bills as it is buried in their purchased power costs.

    This is another admission by the Democrats so fond of this carbon tax that it ultimately is paid by customers, not the power companies. When the tax was $5- to $6 per ton of carbon emissions, it was harder to see, but now at $35 per ton it is impossible to miss. 

    (more…)

  • Jeanine’s Memes

    Posted on

    by

    James A. Bacon

    A frustrated man crying out loud with text saying 'I'd be richer if trillionaires didn't exist.' Below, a red compact car with text saying 'I'd be faster if Lamborghinis didn't exist.'

    View more memes at The Bull Elephant.

  • Data Centers Will Pay Same Tax on Solar Power as on Coal

    Posted on

    by

    Steve Haner

    by Steve Haner

    The new energy tax being imposed on Virginia’s data center industry effective July 1, assuming the new state budget conference report passes next week, is totally ecumenical. The same tax is imposed on electrons from a solar panel or wind turbine as is imposed on electrons from coal.

    A data center that has largely or fully supplied its needs with generation behind the meter on site or with a contract with a competitive service provider will pay the same tax per kilowatt hour as a data center straining the general utility grid. This is what the new provision states:

    …regardless of whether the electricity is provided through an incumbent electric utility, an incumbent electric cooperative, a competitive service provider, or is self-supplied. For electricity that is self-supplied, the data center operator shall report its usage quarterly to the Department of Environmental Quality, who shall verify such usage with the State Corporation Commission.

    The $11,000 per 1 million kilowatt hours (and data centers use hundreds of millions in some cases) will be in addition to the existing $875 per 1 million kilowatt hour tax on large electricity users in an existing law. But that tax is only on utility-delivered power. Taxing the self-supplied power is new. 

    (more…)

  • DEI by Any Other Name Is Just as Noxious

    Posted on

    by

    James A. Bacon

    Did UVA eliminate DEI or merely rebrand it?

    A caricatured man in a suit smiling confidently, presenting two boxes labeled 'Old Product' and 'New Product'. The 'Old Product' box is marked 'DEI Bureaucracy $220/Year', while the 'New Product' box is titled 'DEI Community Engagement & Wellbeing Initiative'. Background decorations include banners that say 'DEI is Dead... Long Live Partnerships!' and 'Inclusive Excellence 2.0'.
    Image credit: Grok

    by the Jefferson Council

    For over a decade, successive UVA administrations spent millions of dollars building one of the most extensive Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) bureaucracies in American higher education. A 2021 survey ranked UVA second among major universities in the number of DEI employees, and by 2024 the university was spending $20M on 235 positions. When these practices were found to violate the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and a landmark Supreme Court decision, the Board of Visitors unanimously voted to dismantle them. UVA later entered into a formal agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice to do exactly that.

    Even a cursory review of the current situation on Grounds suggests the reality is otherwise.

    One administrator’s official biography still describes her job, in the present tense, as executing diversity, equity, and inclusion strategy — the same language from her previous role as the Senior Assistant Dean and Chief Community and Connection Officer. Her title has been scrubbed from the page. However, her payroll listing now reads Compliance Consultant. Her biography did not change. The page simply moved to a new address.

    That detail captures, in microcosm, what a review of key DEI staffers, archived webpages, and salary records reveals about the scope of UVA’s restructuring: titles changed, office names changed, URLs changed. The people did not. 

    (more…)

  • Bacon Meme of the Week

    Posted on

    by

    James A. Bacon

    Close-up of cooked bacon strips on a grill with a humorous warning text about drooling.

  • Don’t Let Data Centers Force a Virginia Government Shutdown

    Posted on

    by

    James A. Bacon

    by David J. Toscano

    A dog looking surprised while standing on a wooden floor, connected to a futuristic leash with a digital display that says 'GOOD BOY. WALK.'
    Image credit: Chat GPT

    [FLASH: Rumors are now circulating that House and Senate negotiators may be close to a budget deal. That is good news, but it still must pass both bodies and be signed by the governor by June 30]

    Want a good example of the “tail wagging the dog?” Look no further that this year’s budget process in Virginia. The “dog” is a $74 billion budget that needs to be passed by June 30 to avoid a government shutdown. The “tail” is the data center industry — and whether the state should end tax exemptions for the industry that otherwise expire in 2035. The proposed House budget did not change the exemption, and legislation to terminate the program failed during the regular session. Rather than wait for a new bill in a new session, Senate Democrats and Sen. Louise Lucas, a leading critic of the subsidies, inserted language into its budget to end the program, and proposed using the savings to increase spending in other areas. The House rejected that approach.

    Under our state constitution, Virginia government is not authorized to operate without a budget in place by July 1. While the General Assembly has failed to pass a budget by the end of its regular session in March 11 times since 2000, it has always met the fiscal year deadline. The closest call came in 2006, when Gov. Tim Kaine signed the budget on June 30. The House just canceled its plans to return to Richmond on June 18, and it is not clear when the budget impasse will be resolved.

    The data center trade off

    The state tax exemptions for the industry means $1.9 billion less in revenue is collected by the state this year. That is a significant sum, but it represents only about 2.6 percent of the $74 billion budget proposed by the House and endorsed by Gov. Abigail Spanberger, and pales by comparison to spending on education, local government and key services. Yet, it has become the driver of the budget impasse.

    (more…)

  • Surf’s Up! And So’s Exposure to Virginia Beach Taxpayers

    Posted on

    by

    sherlockj

    The biggest wave generated by the city’s Atlantic Park project is debt. The promised tax revenues aren’t sufficient yet to support it.

    by James C. Sherlock

    A surfer riding a wave, captured from inside the barrel of the wave, showcasing the vibrant blue water and a clear sky.
    Virginia Beach wave pool, keystone of the Atlantic Beach project. Image credit: Surfer Magazine

    From an article by Stacy Parker in The Virginian-Pilot this morning:

    To build two parking garages and improve streets in Atlantic Park, a public entity borrowed $53 million and agreed to pay off the loan with tax revenue generated from the project.

    The bill has come due, but the taxes aren’t adding up yet.

    Who knew?

    About that $53 million debt thing. The Official Statement prepared by the City of Virginia Beach, Virginia, on behalf of the City of Virginia Beach Development Authority (the “public entity” referenced by Ms. Parker) listed the debt:

    City Of Virginia Beach Development Authority

    • $33,435,000 Public Facility Revenue Bonds, Series 2024A
    • $27,225,000 Public Facility Refunding Revenue Bonds, Series 2024B
    • $128,070,000 Public Facility Revenue Bonds, Series 2024C (Federally Taxable)

    In 2024, this author wrote an 11-part series on the multiple scandals surrounding the Virginia Beach City Council’s actions to fund Atlantic Park.  Atlantic Park is comprised of:

    • the Dome entertainment venue and the parking garages owned by the city, from which it hopes to generate revenue,
    • all the steady revenue-generating assets like restaurants, shops, and apartments owned by a private development company,
    • a maybe-not-revenue-generating wave pool owned by a North Carolina nonprofit funded with state revenue bonds because neither the city nor the developers wanted any part of it.  

    In this case, as a Virginia Beach taxpayer, he did not wish to be right in his published prediction that the Development Authority would be unable to service the debt with project revenues.  

    It turns out he was prescient.

    (more…)

  • On the Table: Deleting Christmas as a Student Holiday in Fairfax Schools

    Posted on

    by

    James A. Bacon

    Students in Fairfax County are in the classroom five days a week for less than half the school year. Instead of eliminating the administrative throwaway days that have created this problem, district leaders asked families whether they could eliminate Christmas and other holidays instead.

    by Stephanie Lundquist-Arora
    Republished with permission from IWFeatures

    This year, fewer than half of the school weeks in Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) are five-day weeks. The school calendar is interrupted with multiple days off that are coded as “teacher workday,” “staff development day,” “school planning day,” and “religious and cultural observance day.” There were also 12 “early release” days intended to give teachers more time for grading, planning, and training.

    Fairfax County Public Schools 2025-2026 Standard School Year Calendar, displaying monthly layouts from July 2025 to June 2026, indicating school days, holidays, and instructional periods.

    In response, parents in Virginia’s largest public school district are demanding more consistent instructional time for their children. School board members attest that they have received thousands of emails from parents about the school calendar. One of them, Melanie Meren, said, “Parents are seeking help. They want their kids in school for as many five-day school weeks as possible.”  

    (more…)

  • DPU Billing Mess: You Can’t Thrive Without Crossing the “T”

    Posted on

    by

    James A. Bacon

    by Jon Baliles

    A tall building surrounded by flying papers marked with overdue utility bills, set against a clear blue sky.
    AI-generated image: Grok

    The city’s Department of Public Utilities had perhaps their worst week since the January 2025 water crisis this past week (the May boil water advisory is close) and, like the big crisis, it may last a while and require an after action report to figure out just what happened to keep it from happening again. We have commended Mayor Avula and DPU Director Scott Morris for righting the ship when it comes to the reliability of the water plant to function as intended and the city’s ability to keep the water flowing since the crisis. They took a deserved victory lap in January about how much progress had been made and the water plant endured through one the nastiest ice storms we have seen in decades (unlike the two inch snowstorm that brought the water plant down when less competent people were in charge).

    But just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water, the city suffered another self-inflicted wound in the last month. They tried to get their error past the goalie without anyone getting wise, but the people of Richmond were watching and paying attention, as they usually are. Instead realizing the mistake and proactively dealing with the mess they created and get out ahead of it, the city tried to keep the problem silent. It began on May 21 when the city issued a press release about DPU transitioning to new back office systems “to improve customer service operations and streamline field service management for utility customers across the city.”

    You may recall back in November 2025 DPU was dealing with billing issues related to about 5,000 customers in Southside with faulty meter readings after new and updated meters had been installed. Chief Administrative Officer Odie Donald said issues and problems can always arise, but also pledged:

    “Our goal is to deliver best in class service to our customers. Service rises to elite status, when we proactively correct issues and our customers can have confidence that we will do what it takes to get it right. This small adjustment is the first step in building that transparency and trust with our customers.”

    (more…)

  • Spanberger Retreats on Weed Market to Get Budget

    Posted on

    by

    Steve Haner

    by Derrick A. Max

    Governor Abigail Spanberger announced her support for a deal to create a legal retail cannabis market in Virginia — only weeks after vetoing a bill to do much the same thing.

    That should give Virginians pause.

    Virginia has yet to pass a budget and is only two weeks from a government shutdown. While lawmakers were still deadlocked over the data center tax exemptions, the governor announced that she is now prepared to accept a retail marijuana market as a part of the budget package — weeks after vetoing a similar cannabis bill. That makes the proposal look less like a carefully crafted framework and more like a legislative sweetener to weaken the opposition of Senator L. Louise Lucas, who is both a vocal supporter of marijuana legalization and the owner of the Cannabis Outlet in Portsmouth, VA. 

    When the governor vetoed the earlier cannabis legislation, she said that the bill needed stronger protections for children, clearer enforcement authority, more resources for product testing and inspections, better tools to shut down illicit operators, and a regulatory system that would put public safety first.

    Those were not minor objections.

    Now, with a government shutdown threatened, the governor says those concerns have been sufficiently addressed. The new cannabis agreement would allow retail cannabis sales beginning in July 2027, authorize hundreds of retail licenses, increase the legal possession limit, impose new state and local taxes, regulate intoxicating hemp products, and direct some revenue toward education, substance-abuse prevention, public health, and equity programs.

    (more…)

Now Available

Book cover of 'Dust Mites: A Second American Revolution' by James A. Bacon, featuring astronauts planting a flag with a blue and white emblem on a lunar landscape, with Earth visible in the background.
For sale on Amazon.com

The year: 2075. The American colonies on the Moon are getting restless under Washington’s tyrannical rule….

This second edition of “Dust Mites” has a snazzy new cover, includes helpful lunar maps, and is 5,000 words tighter than the original. The sequel, “Trogs,” is scheduled for publication this summer.

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Bacon’s Rebellion is Virginia’s leading politically non-aligned portal for news, opinions and analysis about state, regional and local public policy. Read more about us here.

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