PEC joins with partner organizations to promote thriving communities and healthy natural resources in the Shenandoah Valley, the central Piedmont, the Journey Through Hallowed Ground corridor and Northern Virginia counties. This includes work through the Virginia Conservation Network and our Coalition for Smarter Growth.
If you have any questions related to PEC’s regional, state and national policy work, or would like to partner with us, please reach out to John McCarthy at [email protected] or (540) 347-2334 x7043.
Take Action: HB1122 Would Give More Power to Developers at the Expense of Communities
I’m writing to ask that you take immediate action on a critical bill coming up for a vote in the General Assembly that would limit local governments’ power to manage growth and development in their …
A Renewed Call to Pass Data Center Reform Legislation
There are still many impactful data center bills being decided on soon and we need your help supporting them …
Support Agrivoltaics Bill HB 508 / SB 340
HB 508 / SB 340 defines “agrivoltaics,” as it pertains to small renewable energy projects, as “the intentional co-location of agricultural production and solar energy generation on the same land …
Two Bills with potential to pause data center approvals and plan responsibly for the future
The Piedmont Environmental Council (PEC) supports HB1515, introduced by Delegate Irene Shin last Friday. This bill aligns with PEC’s data center reform efforts to pause approvals of hyperscale data center proposals …
HB155/SB619 Could Create Real Data Center Reform
We believe that passing HB155/SB619 is the single most important step Virginia can take this year to ensure a smarter digital future. Please use our advocacy page to send a letter to your state legislators …
Virginia General Assembly in Full Swing
Our advocacy team is already hard at work as the 2026 Virginia General Assembly gets underway in Richmond …
Video: “The Hidden Costs of the Cloud: Data Centers and AI in Virginia”
Virginia is undergoing an unprecedented economic, technological, and environmental transformation, all centered around the activities of one industry: data centers …
2026 Data Center Reform Legislation
The outsized impacts of data centers in our communities will again make data center reform a priority for PEC and our partners in the Virginia Data Center Reform Coalition during this year’s Virginia General Assembly …
Virginia Conservation Network’s Our 2026 Common Agenda Environmental Briefing Book
The Piedmont Environmental Council and the Coalition for Smarter Growth are proud to have co-authored six of the 47 briefing papers in Virginia Conservation Network’s Our 2026 Common Agenda Environmental Briefing Book …
Join Us at the State Capitol on Feb. 9 for Data Center Reform!
The Virginia Data Center Reform Coalition will once again host our Data Center Reform Lobby Day in Richmond, VA, providing a unique opportunity to meet face-to-face with your legislators and make your voice heard on critical data …

