Nivar, VanValkenburg talk data centers, NextEra merger, Flock cameras at Western Henrico town hall

Virginia’s upcoming General Assembly session will focus heavily on the state’s role in regulating data centers and Flock cameras, said Henrico legislators May Nivar (D-57th District) and Schuyler VanValkenburg (D-16th District).

During a town hall at Twin Hickory Library on Saturday, community members voiced concerns about the expansion of data centers in the region, as well as how the proposed merger between Florida power company NextEra and Virginia’s Dominion Energy could negatively impact ratepayers. Both legislators said they opposed the prospective merger, but a special session on the issue is unlikely, according to VanValkenburg.

What is likely is more discussions between state legislators on data center regulation and concerns about localities’ use of Flock Safety cameras during January’s session, said VanValkenburg. 

Both legislators also discussed their efforts to boost solar energy usage in Virginia, provide more equitable funding to public education, and build pedestrian- and cyclist-centered infrastructure in the region. 

Nivar, who represents areas in Western Henrico and Eastern Goochland, was first elected as delegate last year after defeating Republican incumbent David Owen. VanValkenburg, who represents Western Henrico’s state senate seat, has been in the state legislature for nearly a decade.

Data centers and Dominion Energy

Audience question: “What is your stance on the Dominion-NextEra merger?”

Nivar: “I just don’t think that NextEra, a Florida-based company, should be coming in to tell Virginia how to do Virginia’s business. So far, what I’ve learned is they don’t seem to be doing that business very well, so that’s very concerning to me…We have enough on our plate with Dominion, so imagine now we add in a layer of this outside corporation coming in.”

VanValkenburg: “At the end of the day, I think it’s really important to note that [Virginia’s State Corporation Commission] have the tools they need to reject this now. I think the law has read that they should reject the merger. I don’t think they need more time to do that. I would hope to give them more time if we were in a special session for that…But just to be honest, I don’t think we’re going to end up having a special session.”

Audience question: “Data centers are using a significant amount of water. They also discharge water that contains heavy metals and biocides. Some discharge PFAS chemicals. What are we doing at the state level to ensure that municipal water systems are properly equipped?”

Nivar: “Beginning January 1, 2027, water providers will be required to report data center water use as a separate category. This is an important step toward greater transparency. Our role as legislators is to establish those reporting requirements…But at the local level, county utilities and local authorities are responsible for planning and accounting for that infrastructure.”

VanValkenburg: “With data centers, I think [the General Assembly] is in a weird place. We had a lot of fights over what we should be doing in the budget. We really need to move to the next step of, what does the statewide regulation look like? What does the statewide role look like?”

Nivar: “[My district] has four precincts in the eastern part of Goochland, and so data centers have been a huge conversation and I’ve been focusing a lot of my time around that area because of the community sentiment around data centers, which is just, they don’t want them there…My approach is just sort of listening and trying to understand the various points of view. I’ve come to really appreciate what local governments do, and that there’s just no one size fits all. So going in with an open line of, what does each locality need and want?”

VanValkenburg: “I think another one of the things with data centers that people are rightfully worried about is the backup [diesel-powered] generators. And the backup generators only go on when we’re at peak load, which is in the summer… We have to think about not just building the [energy] supply, but also how dynamic it is. Solar is our cheapest energy source and it’s the fastest to build. If we want to think about closing the supply gap and doing it affordability, it is clearly the number one option.”

Flock cameras and local infrastructure

Audience question: “What are your thoughts on the use of Flock cameras and their contribution to the surveillance state?”

VanValkenburg: “My default is to not like surveillance, except I think there are certain times where it’s appropriate in limited ways: for example, school zones…I voted to regulate Flock cameras last year because right now, there’s no regulation, which means that localities can do whatever they want. And in the absence of having a majority at the state level to ban them, I would rather regulate them.”

Nivar: “I would agree with the senator on that. I think we’ve been seeing a lot of examples of even law enforcement personnel not using the information appropriately, and so putting some guardrails around the use of it. I’m very concerned about even out-of-state people or law enforcement being able to have access to our information here. So this is going to be one of the big topics for our session.”

VanValkenburg: “The legislature is kind of all over the place. It’s not a partisan issue…I don’t think the average legislator thought much about these issues prior to the last six months. I think this January there will be a shift. I don’t know what that’s going to look like because like I said, it doesn’t cut by party at all. So it makes figuring out the votes very strange.”

Audience question: “We’re getting more sidewalks in Henrico. Are there any more plans for bike lanes?”

VanValkenburg: “One of the best things we did back in 2020 was create the Central Virginia Transit Authority. It’s the gift that keeps giving because we are getting so many projects. The Fall Line Trail, which will be bike trails all the way from Petersburg to Ashland, wouldn’t be possible without the CVTA…And the bike plan for Henrico County is stuff that they’re definitely doing, that they’re waiting on funding for, and it’s really quite impressive.”

Education

Audience question: “How do you think our school systems here in Henrico and in the Commonwealth as a whole are performing? How can they be improved?”

VanValkenburg: “We saw small increases [in scores] this past year, and I think we are going to start to see more increases for a couple of reasons: one is funding. It has been fairly bipartisan, the education line items in the budget, for the most part…We have an outdated funding model at the state level – we fund English Language Learners at a lower rate than every state that surrounds us. This is a very stark example of why we need to tweak how we fund schools to ensure we’re getting it to the kids who need it the most.”

Nivar: “Actually there’s a bill I want to share that I’m going to bring back. As you know, Richmond Public Schools has been dealing with some mold and here in Henrico County, we’ve been dealing with some HVAC issues. I had introduced a bill last session that would have put mold and radon back into the comprehensive indoor air quality testing for public schools and it was stripped out of that bill last year by Governor Youngkin. I want to get that back in so that we can really make sure that we get ahead of this.”

Audience question: “What is being done and where are we in the process of banning the use of cell phones in schools?”

VanValkenburg: “We are going to have legislation this winter – not just about cell phones, but about the laptops kids have…We’ll have legislation for localities to have to create a plan for purposeful tech and minimizing tech. There will be legislation – I don’t know how aggressive – about maybe getting rid of tech for our youngest learners, so Kindergarten to second grade or Kindergarten to third grade. There’s going to be some stuff around AI guidelines as well.”

Elections and campaign finance

Audience question: “Will there be renewed efforts by the General Assembly to bring back the congressional redistricting map that Virginia voters approved earlier this year?

VanValkenburg: “The short answer is TBD. The longer answer is that there would have to be a new [Virginia] Supreme Court. There is a Supreme Court opening in January, so again, TBD. I would not be shocked if you saw a push for it, but the honest answer is we don’t know what that would look like.”

Audience question: “There are some gaping holes in transparency and ethics due to antiquated campaign finance laws and processes. What has been done about this so far and are there any future legislative efforts? Is there support from the governor to sign such legislation into law?”

VanValkenburg: “Yes. The governor, since her first run in 2018, has been very much about pro-democracy, anti-corruption campaign finance reform…But, since I’ve been doing this 10 years now, I’m optimistic about pretty much everything – I’m not optimistic about campaign finance reform in Virginia. There is just not a lot of appetite that is on a bipartisan basis.”

Liana Hardy is the Citizen’s government and education reporter. Support her work and articles like this one by making a contribution to the Citizen.