In a wide-ranging interview with Politico’s Energy Podcast released Monday, Governor Abigail Spanberger spoke on data centers, energy costs and the midterm elections.
In the interview with Politico’s Josh Siegel, Spanberger defended Virginia’s commitment to data centers, and the importance the Commonwealth’s environmental laws can have in the industry if it stays in our borders.
"Because if they're not coming to Virginia and they go somewhere else in PJM, that's an impact on our energy prices," Spanberger said. "If they're not coming to Virginia and they're going to some other state that isn't going to have the same environmental priorities, now from a national perspective, we're seeing the proliferation of an industry at a kind of lower level of environmental protections or technological investment."
Spanberger also spoke about rising energy costs, saying Southwest Virginia was getting hit the hardest. She blamed President Donald Trump’s war on renewables and the war with Iran.
“The more we innovate in our energy generation, zero carbon energy generation, use of fuel cell technology instead of diesel backups," the governor told Politico. "These are ways we can move into a future where we are both creating greater stability in our consumer marketplace for energy, ultimately that stability can be impactful on prices.”
The single term governor, who won in 2025 by 15 points, also spoke to the growing wave of progressive candidates winning Democratic primaries ahead of the 2026 midterms.
“I think that various candidates resonate in various parts of the country," Spanberger said. "And I think what will be the challenge when this new congress comes in is all those voices matter and in different ways.”
All 11 of Virginia’s congressional seats are up for grabs this fall alongside one of the Commonwealth’s U., S. senators.
