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State Lawmakers Target Data Centers State lawmakers are considering legislation to protect consumers from rising energy prices as data centers drive up demand. A bill [ HB 3546 (2025) ] passed in Oregon...
ME Could Become Next State to Set Minimum Rate for Rideshare Drivers Maine lawmakers are considering a bill ( HB 563 ) to mandate that drivers working for transportation network companies like Uber and...
Virginia Touts Improved Oversight of Nursing Homes Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) hosted a public event last week to highlight improvements in oversight of the state’s 300 nursing homes. Those...
This year labor and human resources compliance professionals should expect increased state-level enforcement activity—particularly in Democrat-led states—on a variety of employment-related...
Meta Signs Nuclear Energy Deal Meta, parent company of Facebook and Instagram, has committed to acquire more than 2,600 megawatts of electricity over the next 20 years from nuclear power plants in Ohio...
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State lawmakers are considering legislation to protect consumers from rising energy prices as data centers drive up demand. A bill [HB 3546 (2025)] passed in Oregon last year created a new rate classification for large energy users like data centers. Similar measures have been introduced in California, Indiana, New Jersey, New York, Oklahoma and Wisconsin this year.
A slate of data center bills has also been introduced in Virginia. The measures include: HB 155, which would require the State Corporation Commission (SCC) to review the impacts of high-demand facilities like data centers on the electricity grid and ratepayers before allowing such facilities to connect to the grid; and HB 503, which would require the SCC to deny requests to charge utility ratepayers for infrastructure that directly serves data centers.
Virginia Sen. Creigh Deeds (D) will also reintroduce legislation carried by multiple lawmakers in recent years that would make the sales and use tax exemption on certain computer equipment and software that data center developers benefit from contingent upon clean energy purchase requirements.
A raft of data center reform bills introduced last year mostly died before reaching the desk of outgoing Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R). (PLURIBUS NEWS, VIRGINIA PUBLIC MEDIA)
A bill (HB 2157) introduced in Washington would require artificial intelligence companies to test their systems for bias, as well as disclose risks and provide notification when AI has been significantly involved in decision-making. The measure would apply to employment screening, health care access, housing decisions, financial lending, insurance coverage and school admissions. (SEATTLE TIMES)
—Compiled by SNCJ Managing Editor KOREY CLARK
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