ARLINGTON, Va. (7News) — Virginia environmental officials ordered tech giant Microsoft on Monday to pay roughly $2.5 million after its Leesburg data center violated air quality standards during a week-long power grid outage in 2025, according to state documents.
The Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) consent order is the largest civil penalty issued by the agency, but will still go through a public comment phase until Oct. 14 before it can be finalized, according to an agency spokesperson.
A Microsoft spokesperson said the company worked with the state toward a resolution and that it will support DEQ’s work to improve air-quality monitoring…