Headshot of Virginia Mercury reporter, Shannon Heckt.

Shannon Heckt

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Shannon Heckt is an energy and environment reporter for the Virginia Mercury and is based in Richmond. She has seven years of reporting experience in Nebraska and Louisiana. Her previous experience is in the broadcast industry where she worked for several television stations. She is well known for her coverage of the Louisiana Legislature and disaster recovery. Shannon is a proud graduate of the Edward R. Murrow College of Communication at Washington State University. She's excited to call Virginia home and explore all it has to offer.

Virginia has a new two-year budget. Here’s what lawmakers now require of data centers.
Virginia

Virginia has a new two-year budget. Here’s what lawmakers now require of data centers.

5:25am ET
Shannon Heckt
A new tax has been activated for data centers, the most energy-intensive industry in Virginia, through a provision of the two-year state budget the legislature finalized Monday. Virginia General Assembly approves Spanberger’s budget amendments, ending monthslong impasse The spending plan...
Budget amendment would give ratepayers estimated $3 monthly rebate from RGGI funds
Virginia

Budget amendment would give ratepayers estimated $3 monthly rebate from RGGI funds

Jun 26, 2026
Shannon Heckt
An amendment to return 45% of funds earned through the regional carbon market to rate-paying residents, small business and churches is part of the two-year budget Virginia lawmakers passed Monday, which is now under review by Gov. Abigail Spanberger. The...
Va. legislature grants emergency funds to help close leaking, bankrupt landfill in Chesterfield
Virginia

Va. legislature grants emergency funds to help close leaking, bankrupt landfill in Chesterfield

Jun 25, 2026
Shannon Heckt
The Virginia General Assembly allocated $10.6 million in the two-year budget lawmakers passed this week for the Department of Environmental Quality to help contain toxic leachate spilling from the bankrupt Shoosmith Landfill in Chesterfield County. The emergency funds will be...
Federal government scouts for interest in mineral mining off Virginia shores
Virginia

Federal government scouts for interest in mineral mining off Virginia shores

Jun 24, 2026
Shannon Heckt
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management has pitched the possibility of leasing areas of the outer continental shelf off Virginia’s shores for mineral mining. Over the next month, the agency will seek comments from seabed mining industries interested in leasing...
Virginia legislators advance $205 billion budget including new tax on data centers
Virginia

Virginia legislators advance $205 billion budget including new tax on data centers

Jun 22, 2026
Nathaniel Cline Shannon Heckt Charlotte Rene Woods Samantha Willis
On Monday, Virginia legislators approved a two-year, $205 billion budget proposal to fund healthcare and public education, provide 4% teacher raises and a 3.5% pay bump to state employees, establish a retail weed marketplace and hedge against decreased federal dollars...
Amid statewide drought conditions, data centers face same restrictions as all water customers
Virginia

Amid statewide drought conditions, data centers face same restrictions as all water customers

Jun 22, 2026
Shannon Heckt
About one-third of the state of Virginia is under extreme drought conditions , according to the U.S. Drought Monitor, and Gov. Abigail Spanberger is urging citizens to conserve water . So when local water authorities implement restrictions on water use...
Senate budget proposal keeps data center sales tax exemption, adds new tax for industry
Virginia

Senate budget proposal keeps data center sales tax exemption, adds new tax for industry

Jun 17, 2026
Shannon Heckt
On Tuesday, the Virginia Senate released its latest budget proposal that preserves a sales and use tax exemption for the data center industry, the major hangup that has gummed up negotiations between both legislative chambers. The revamped proposal also adds...
The House and Senate both released new budgets. Here’s how they align and diverge.
Virginia

The House and Senate both released new budgets. Here’s how they align and diverge.

Jun 15, 2026
Shannon Heckt Charlotte Rene Woods Nathaniel Cline Samantha Willis
With a June 30 deadline looming before a state government shutdown, Virginia legislators have released new budget proposals, the latest actions in a long-simmering debate over the state spending plan that has deadlocked over whether data centers should keep being...
Tangier Island: rising waters, eroding shores, dwindling time
Virginia

Tangier Island: rising waters, eroding shores, dwindling time

Jun 15, 2026
Shannon Heckt
TANGIER ISLAND, CHESAPEAKE BAY — On a windy June morning, the Chesapeake Bay Foundation’s boat rocked violently on the waves of its namesake watershed, brackish drops splashing into the vessel as it sped towards Tangier Island, a 1.2 square mile...
New House budget strips environmental standards for data centers, creates commission instead
Virginia

New House budget strips environmental standards for data centers, creates commission instead

Jun 12, 2026
Shannon Heckt
Speaker of the House of Delegates Don Scott, flanked by Appropriations Chair Del. Luke Torian, D-Prince William, and other bipartisan house members, unveiled the chamber’s latest budget proposal in Richmond on Friday, which they framed as a “compromise package” that...
Wittman seeks to keep 1st District seat, as Democratic challengers face crowded primary
Virginia

Wittman seeks to keep 1st District seat, as Democratic challengers face crowded primary

Jun 10, 2026
Shannon Heckt
After a grueling redistricting battle that spanned months and cost millions, the congressional district lines Virginia adopted in 2021 remain in place as Democratic contenders line up to challenge longtime Republican incumbent Robb Wittman in this fall’s race to represent...
After Ashland dam removal, freshwater mussel species reintroduced to South Anna River
Virginia

After Ashland dam removal, freshwater mussel species reintroduced to South Anna River

Jun 05, 2026
Shannon Heckt
For about 200 years the Ashland Mill Dam, about a half-hour north of Richmond, blocked many fish from moving through the South Anna River. Without fish like herring to attach their larvae to, a freshwater mussel species known as the...