The New York Times
(August 14, 2025)
Tech companies are changing the face of the U.S. power industry and blurring the line between energy consumer and energy producer. They have morphed into some of energy’s most dominant players and electricity rates for individuals and small businesses could rise sharply as Amazon, Google, Microsoft and other technology companies build data centers and expand into the energy business.
Piedmont Environmental Council
(August 13, 2025)
Your voice matters. The Fauquier County Board of Supervisors is expected to vote on the Gigaland data center proposal on Thursday, Sept. 11. To learn more and contact the Board of Supervisors, go to https://www.pecva.org/gigaland
This clip is a Piedmont Environmental Council PSA about the Gigaland data center proposal in Remington.
Open Circuit (Podcast)
(August 13, 2025)
Gigawatts of new data center requests are flooding utility interconnection queues. And while the numbers are big, the uncertainty is even bigger. Which projects are real? Which are just phantom projects? And how do you plan a grid for a future where half of all new U.S. load could come from data centers by the end of the decade?
MoneyTrail
(August 12, 2025)
Data centers' increased energy demand will likely increase system costs for all customers, including non-data center customers, and will also strain the electric grid unless grid operators and federal and state governments take action. Failing to invest billions of dollars in the grid would force regulators to acquiesce to rate increases of as much as 70 percent in the next decade in order to ensure the grid functions properly and provides energy to all uses.
Piedmont Environmental Council president Chris Miller is featured in this article.
Politico
(August 10, 2025)
The surge is proving polarizing, particularly in northern Virginia — considered the tip of the spear on this issue with the world’s largest and fastest-growing data center market. The data center industry is expected to contribute $9.1 billion in gross domestic product to Virginia’s economy annually. In Loudoun County alone that has meant a $250 million budget surplus and a property tax cut. That’s a prospect that’s hard to ignore for counties with Big Tech knocking on their doors.
Southern Environmental Law Center
(August 8, 2025)
As tech companies rush to build data centers across the South, the region is facing a massive methane gas build out that turbo charges climate risks with monopoly utilities aiming to build 43,000 megawatts of plants over the next 15 years.
The Washington Post
(August 7, 2025)
The colorful insects are draining nutrients from grapevines, stunting their growth and grossing out winery visitors.
The Black Chronicle
(August 7, 2025)
As part of Dominion Energy’s current rate case, which includes a proposal to create a new GS-5 rate class for large energy users like data centers, the Piedmont Environmental Council is asking state regulators to adopt stronger protections for households and small businesses.
This clip mentions the Piedmont Environmental Council.
Richmond Times-Dispatch
(August 12, 2025)
This summer, Maryland’s electric grid came dangerously close to failure, prompting an emergency intervention from the federal government. It was a serious moment with serious implications, and for Virginia and every state in the PJM region, it serves as a warning we can’t afford to ignore. PJM Interconnection manages the regional grid for 13 states and the District of Columbia.
Utility Dive
(August 12, 2025)
The PJM Interconnection has launched a fast-track stakeholder process to develop rules for interconnecting data centers and other large loads to its system while ensuring the region has enough power supplies.
The Allegheny Front
(August 8, 2025)
The families of four Wetzel County children have sued a Pittsburgh-based gas producer over health effects from fracking. The families say the operation of several gas wells and a compressor station in the Wetzel County community of Knob Fork released harmful pollutants that made the children sick.
Charlottesville Community Engagement
(August 14, 2025)
Albemarle County will hold a public meeting on August 21 at 6 p.m. in Lane Auditorium to go over the plan.
C-VILLE Weekly
(August 13, 2025)
A love of the outdoors led math major Luebke to become a photographer of wildlife, which led to a fascination with dragonflies, which led to a career in ecology and an avocation as a citizen scientist.
Information Charlottesville
(August 11, 2025)
The rezoning comes at a time when Albemarle is trying to provide more housing supply per a policy adopted by the Board of Supervisors in Albemarle County. The first objective of Housing Albemarle is to “Increase the supply of housing to meet the diverse housing needs of current and future Albemarle County residents.”
CBS 19 News
(August 11, 2025)
Registration is now open for a celebration of the area’s trails and the outdoors. The Loop de ‘Ville Trail Fest will take place on Sept. 27, and there are some new options for people who want to participate.
The Winchester Star
(August 11, 2025)
Shane Boswell believes the needs and desires of the Northern Shenandoah Valley and its residents aren't being heard in Richmond. To try and change that, he's running for the Virginia House of Delegates' 31st District seat in the general election Nov. 4.
Culpeper Chamber of Commerce
(August 14, 2025)
OysterFest, which takes place on October 4th, is the main annual fundraiser for The Free Clinic of Culpeper, helping provide vital medical care and prescription support to uninsured community members who meet income eligibility guidelines.
Culpeper Star-Exponent
(August 14, 2025)
A local member of the Virginia House of Delegates is speaking out about rising power costs linked to data center electricity demand and so is an area nonprofit dedicated to protecting and restoring the lands and waters of the Piedmont.
This clip features a quote from Sarah Parmelee, Piedmont Environmental Council's land use representative for Culpeper County.
Culpeper Star-Exponent
(August 14, 2025)
U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine dropped by Culpeper County last week for a discussion on agriculture with local farmers – from the long-stalled Farm Bill, which hasn’t been officially renewed by Congress since 2018, and crop insurance to the decline of local dairy farming, the impacts of tariffs, international trade, the price of land and the price of commodities not keeping up with inflation.
Culpeper Star-Exponent
(August 13, 2025)
“Despite being one of the country’s relatively smaller states, Virginia is bursting with beauty. It is home to 22 National Park Service sites, 3,315 miles of coastline and the largest cave system in the eastern United States,” according to an article published Monday on the geography site.
Fauquier Now
(August 12, 2025)
Others have written, and spoken well and sufficiently, about the extreme environmental and aesthetic devastation caused by data centers. But not being considered sufficiently are the dangers inherent in the revenue proffers these data center proponents are dangling before of our citizens and county officials.
Fauquier Now
(August 12, 2025)
Between now and when the Board of Supervisors meet, Fauquier residents have the opportunity to change course and persuade their representatives to pursue a smarter path for data center development. But the clock is ticking.
This clip is an Op-ed written by Piedmont Environmental Council president Chris Miller.
Fauquier Times
(August 11, 2025)
Remington Town Council members voted Monday to approve a boundary line adjustment that would annex a 5.95-acre parcel of land across from Pierce Elementary School into the town limits. The land is under consideration as a potential site for a Dollar General Market, though the discount giant has not committed to the location yet.
Bloomberg
(August 10, 2025)
As AI's rapid expansion drives a growing need for data centers, small towns like Warrenton, Virginia are pushing back - worried about the noise, energy demands, and the challenges of dealing with big tech companies. Despite the promise of much-needed revenue, Warrenton’s residents overwhelmingly opposed an Amazon data center, citing concerns over community impact and energy infrastructure strain.
Fauquier Times
(August 9, 2025)
On Sept. 11, the Fauquier County Board of Supervisors is expected to vote on a controversial data center in Remington. At 2.2 million square feet, the Gigaland project will be one of the largest in Virginia. This project will require rezoning that could set the stage for more data centers and electric transmission lines in Remington and the rest of the county. What happens in Remington will impact all of Fauquier.
Fauquier Now
(August 5, 2025)
Wavelet, a retired teacher, was gaining a peaceful outdoor space. Kitt, a Warrenton resident and owner of Ahimsa Native Plants & Design LLC, was creating a multi-faceted project. Both took satisfaction in knowing the plants going in the ground will benefit wildlife and protect water quality.
The Piedmont Journal Recorder
(August 10, 2025)
Governmental meetings scheduled for Greene, Madison, Orange, and Rappahannock counties and the towns of Gordonsville, Madison, Orange, Stanardsville and Washington – agendas attached if provided.
Patch
(August 12, 2025)
Join members of the Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy and Virginia Master Naturalists for a guided nature walk about pollinators at the Chapman DeMary Trail at 1 p.m. on Sunday, August 31. Experts will share fun facts about the different kinds of pollinators, the native plants they need to thrive, and how we can help them.
Patch
(August 12, 2025)
Ahead of a fall launch of an invasive species plant removal program in Loudoun County, upcoming information sessions will inform property owners how the program works: Wednesday, Aug. 27, 6-8 pm.at The Barn at Brambleton, 24439 Evergreen Mills Road, Ashburn and Tuesday, Sept. 9, 6-8 pm at Bluemont Vineyard, 18755 Foggy Bottom Road, Bluemont.
Patch
(August 11, 2025)
"When you drive around the Ashburn, you don't see overhead power lines. All the community, all our power lines are very underground, so why do we now have to see an overhead high voltage power line?" one resident told Patch. "It's not supplying the power to the community, it's to the data centers. And what's the benefit to the residents now? We are the victim of their multi-million dollars project."
Loudoun Now
(August 7, 2025)
Following growing concerns over transmission line impacts, the Board of Supervisors initiated a Comprehensive Plan amendment to identify preferred corridors for transmission lines. Residents are concerned how that will impact the homes near existing rights-of-way.
The Piedmont Journal Recorder
(August 10, 2025)
Governmental meetings scheduled for Greene, Madison, Orange, and Rappahannock counties and the towns of Gordonsville, Madison, Orange, Stanardsville and Washington – agendas attached if provided.
The Piedmont Journal Recorder
(August 10, 2025)
Governmental meetings scheduled for Greene, Madison, Orange, and Rappahannock counties and the towns of Gordonsville, Madison, Orange, Stanardsville and Washington – agendas attached if provided.
The Rapidan Register
(August 10, 2025)
The approximately $3.9 million project was funded using an approximately $70,000 nest egg from previous fundraisers and contributions, combined with new fundraising efforts from Town to Trail, a nonprofit working to add and improve community spaces in Gordonsville, and land acquisitions by both the Piedmont Environmental Council and the town.
This clip mentions the Piedmont Environmental Council.
The Piedmont Journal Recorder
(August 10, 2025)
Governmental meetings scheduled for Greene, Madison, Orange, and Rappahannock counties and the towns of Gordonsville, Madison, Orange, Stanardsville and Washington – agendas attached if provided.
Prince William Times
(August 8, 2025)
Jefferson, however, stopped short of divulging the board’s next move regarding the Digital Gateway. Now that Prince William County Circuit Court Judge Kimberly Irving ruled in favor of a group of Oak Valley residents who sued to undo the rezoning, it’s not clear what will happen next.
Fauquier Now
(August 8, 2025)
For now, the Aug. 7 ruling stops the project from moving forward under its current zoning. Its future will depend on whether the county or developers – or both – file an appeal in the coming weeks.
Richmond Times-Dispatch
(August 11, 2025)
Despite recent growth of underwater meadows in Virginia waters of the lower bay, especially in Mobjack Bay, between Gloucester and Mathews counties, and in the flats off Poquoson, the acreage of underwater grasses is just 64% of the 130,000 acres set as this year's goal.
Virginia Tech News
(August 11, 2025)
Virginia's $20 million initiative is expected to prevent 580,000 pounds of nitrogen pollution from reaching the bay.
The Washington Post
(August 9, 2025)
There was no blood. No signs of a fight. Just dead birds in backyards — decapitated. And, days later, more dead birds. A sparrow and a goldfinch. Residents suspected the birds had crashed into a window. Or maybe were taken by a predator or got into a rat trap with poison in it. Then, a DC biologist cracked the case.
WHRO
(August 7, 2025)
The Menhaden Board of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission voted to study options for spreading the industry’s harvest in the bay more evenly throughout the season. The goal would be to divide the fishing quota into set periods and prevent bottlenecks “that may be impacting other Bay small-scale fisheries as well as the Bay ecosystem."
WTOP News
(August 7, 2025)
Above average rainfall in the area in May, June and July is contributing to the positive outlook and resulted in the drought watch for our area being dropped in late June, after being in place for more than a year.
The Washington Post
(August 3, 2025)
Researchers estimate at least 500 to 600 Tamanend’s bottlenose dolphins have regularly visited the Potomac River and Chesapeake Bay over the past decade, with one sighting dating back to the 19th century.
Culpeper Star-Exponent
(August 9, 2025)
The perception that combining trees and pastures doesn't give you the best of either might be changing among American farmers, in part due to another conservation measure endorsed by NRCS – excluding cattle and other livestock from ponds, creeks and other waterways found on farms. While this exclusion eliminates the adverse environmental impacts of farm animals soiling the water supply, it often comes at a cost to the livestock.
Cardinal News
(August 14, 2025)
The utility-scale solar farm developer Energix Renewables has been cited by DEQ in multiple environmental cases in recent years. The most recent involved stormwater problems at Sunny Rock Solar in Henry County.
Free Lance-Star
(August 14, 2025)
Residents who spoke during the public comment time overwhelmingly supported a special-use permit requirement and urged the board to properly oversee data center development in order to minimize impacts on residents.
Richmond Times-Dispatch
(August 14, 2025)
More than 350 Virginians flocked to Pocahontas State Park on Wednesday to watch two bald eagles return to the wild.
Henrico Citizen
(August 13, 2025)
“Would you want a data center right across from your house? Near your child’s school?” one resident said to developers. “I’ve been following data centers for many years, and they are presenting many challenges to the residents who live near them. We do not deserve this across the street from our home. There is a place for you in Henrico, but not on Darbytown Road.”
Inside Climate News
(August 13, 2025)
Months ago, the Virginia utility said it used an outside monitor to review its bid process for a gas plant in Chesterfield. Now it said that never happened.
KSDK
(August 12, 2025)
The proposed site is located inside the already polluted Elm Point groundwater well field. A split between city leaders and the planning and zoning council over what’s being called the largest construction project in St. Charles' history is raising concerns about whether there will be enough water to operate it.
Virginia Mercury
(August 11, 2025)
Over a hundred community members showed up to the meeting in red shirts to decry the proposed peaker gas plant that Dominion wants to build in their backyard. Their biggest concerns are the cumulative health impacts on the largely low-income and communities of color that surround the plant, which they say have already been breathing in coal dust for decades.
The Daily Progress
(August 9, 2025)
A landowner wants a solar project to be built on her property, but local authorities want her land to stay agricultural. Two years into the process, she’s still waiting for a resolution, as legislation addressing solar ordinances failed again in the General Assembly this year. The dispute reflects an ongoing debate over Virginia’s role in solar energy development in rural areas.
Free Lance-Star
(August 8, 2025)
The Hunters Ridge data center campus site boundary, while more than 1,000 feet from the nearest homes, is near another data center project – the Cosner Tech Campus – that will cover 329 acres, with eight data center buildings, substations, battery and fuel storage, water and sewer facilities.
Associated Press
(August 8, 2025)
The Boar’s Head deli meat plant at the heart of last year’s deadly food poisoning outbreak is set to reopen in the coming months. But recent inspections at Boar’s Head sites documented sanitation problems similar to those that led to the listeria contamination that killed 10 people and sickened dozens.
Free Lance-Star
(August 7, 2025)
After its subcommittee met five times in June and July to review Stafford County's regulations regarding data centers, the Planning Commission will recommend the county adopt the "most significant setback and buffer (requirements) in the entire state."
Virginia Tech News
(August 7, 2025)
The four-year effort aims to accelerate restoration of high-elevation red spruce forests in Virginia, West Virginia, and Maryland. These forests, which scientists consider globally rare, once played a vital role in carbon storage, water retention, regulating microclimates and maintaining biodiversity.
Cardinal News
(August 14, 2025)
A truly responsible energy policy balances environmental progress with the need for constant, reliable power. That means embracing more nuclear power and modern natural gas technologies, not fewer.
CBS 19 News
(August 13, 2025)
On Tuesday, Senators Tim Kaine and Mark Warner announced more than $8.2 million to reduce energy costs for households and expand access to affordable energy. More than $6.8 million of the funding will be allocated for home upgrades and repairs under the Weatherization Assistance Program, including health and safety checks, installation of upgraded energy-efficient lighting, replacing heating and cooling systems, and more.
WHRO
(August 12, 2025)
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency awarded Virginia $156 million last year through Solar for All, a $7 billion program launched under the Inflation Reduction Act. But the Trump administration last week announced it’s canceling the grant funding the solar program, putting it on indefinite hold.
Cardinal News
(August 11, 2025)
Virginia’s next governor will face an energy crisis. How she handles it may well define her term. The basic problem is that the demand for energy is rising — driven largely by the growth of data centers.
Augusta Free Press
(August 10, 2025)
Field trip opportunities range from guided nature hikes and fossil hunts to reenactments of colonial life and conservation projects. Homeschool families can take advantage of customizable group programs, flexible scheduling and themed homeschool days held throughout the year.
Richmond Times-Dispatch
(August 9, 2025)
“That room was full of lawyers and lobbyists for the parties who make money from what we do in this case,” Christie recalled in an interview at his office in Washington, D.C. “The people who pay the bills, the Virginians who pay the bills, were not in that room. Don’t you ever forget the people who were not in the room.”
Renewables Now
(August 8, 2025)
Secure Solar Futures, which builds, owns, manages and funds solar projects for hospitals, schools and businesses, will use the equity investment to add solar at nine public schools in Virginia. The funding commitment came from Pardee Renewable Energy, LLC, a subsidiary of natural resources management and investment company Pardee Resources Company.
EIN Presswire
(August 8, 2025)
Purchases of fishing equipment help fund the work of fisheries divisions at DWR and other state agencies, thanks to the Dingell-Johnson Sport Fish Restoration Act, generating about $3.5 million a year from the excise taxes on fishing tackle and boat fuel.
ABC 13 News
(August 14, 2025)
The FWC said that over the 10-day competition, 934 participants from 30 states and Canada came together to remove 294 pythons from South Florida, setting a new record.
Heatmap
(August 14, 2025)
The connection between large new sources of demand and higher prices is pretty easy to draw: Electricity grids are built to accommodate peak demand, while the bills customers receive are based on a combination of the fixed cost of maintaining the grid for everyone and the cost of the energy itself, therefore higher peak demand and more grid maintenance equals higher bills. But what if data centers could use the existing transmission and generation system and not add to peak generation? That’s the promise of load flexibility.
Volts (Podcast)
(August 13, 2025)
Host David Roberts in conversation with Frank Rambo of the Horizon Climate Initiative about "uneconomic dispatch" — the costly and polluting practice of running coal plants even when cheaper, cleaner options are available. They discuss why utilities get away with this, how the Trump administration is now trying to force them to continue via bogus "reliability" claims, and why fighting this practice at the state level is a huge, bipartisan win for both the climate and ratepayers.
Alaska Beacon
(August 12, 2025)
Since 2011, the Mendenhall Glacier has caused floods each summer as Suicide Basin — a glacially locked lake — fills with meltwater and runoff, then bursts from its confines after the water overtops an icy dam. As more ice melts amid global climate change, the flooding has grown worse. In 2023, the flood eroded the Mendenhall River’s banks, causing homes to collapse. In 2024, the flood was the worst yet.
Utility Dive
(August 12, 2025)
In the frenzy to meet rising energy demand, utilities and others often overlook the value of power system innovations. New generation and transmission infrastructure is needed, and a sophisticated set of power system optimizations could allow operators to reduce the need for costly new infrastructure by maximizing the flexibility of loads and resources.
Latitude Media
(August 11, 2025)
Data centers to support artificial intelligence software make up much of the unexpected growth in demand. That’s partly why many of the new server farms are located in Texas, where adding new power generation is relatively easy and cheap compared to more tightly regulated markets, and Virginia, where the federal government’s cybersecurity investments are clustered.
The Wall Street Journal
(August 11, 2025)
But Americans will have to do a lot more recycling, metals executives and analysts say, for the U.S. to break its reliance on imported aluminum. Even with such a high trade barrier, they give long odds to a domestic smelting revival.
E&E News
(August 11, 2025)
The exponential growth of artificial intelligence — if it continues — could push total AI peak power requirements to 50 gigawatts by 2030, exceeding half of the energy capacity of all existing U.S. nuclear plants.
Quantum Zeitgeist
(August 11, 2025)
Researchers at Virginia Tech, alongside collaborators at Stanford University, are developing sharkPulse, an open-access database leveraging AI to autonomously extract data from online photographs. The methodology bypasses reliance on voluntary submissions by employing computational systems designed to scan online sources for shark imagery and automatically record location data, timestamps and species identifications.
E&E News
(August 11, 2025)
Before and after he became chair, Christie maintained a stubborn, almost evangelical belief in the states, arguing they’re better suited than federal regulators to chart the path for a nation that now requires more electricity and for consumers who may pay higher costs.
Canary Media
(August 11, 2025)
The Trump administration recently terminated a $4.9 billion loan for the Grain Belt Express, the country’s biggest transmission grid project. Sen. Martin Heinrich, Democrat from New Mexico, says the decision is illegal.
The Guardian
(August 10, 2025)
Scientists say lightning bugs are having a revival this year – but they’re concerned about the insects’ long-term viability
Associated Press
(August 9, 2025)
More than a dozen states have begun taking steps as data centers drive a rapid build-out of power plants and transmission lines. That has meant pressuring the nation’s biggest power grid operator to clamp down on price increases, studying the effect of data centers on electricity bills or pushing data center owners to pay a larger share of local transmission costs.
The New York Times
(August 8, 2025)
The database helps companies calculate their greenhouse gas emissions. Its creator left the E.P.A. after being investigated for criticizing the Trump administration.
Utility Dive
(August 8, 2025)
Citing Florida as an example, a coalition of consumer and environmental advocates said public service commissions have become too closely aligned with utility interests.
The Washington Post
(August 8, 2025)
If they could pull it off, it would be monumental, marking the success of the largest dam removal project in American history. For the teens, all descendants of the region’s Indigenous tribes, it would also be profoundly symbolic. Parents and grandparents had fought for decades to undam the Klamath, a sacred lifeblood. Now this generation would be the first to travel the river’s entirety.
The City
(August 8, 2025)
A few dozen customers are testing portable power boxes connected to their air conditioners, allowing them to stay cool without plugging in during summer system overload.
CNN
(August 7, 2025)
Energy Sec. Chris Wright said the Trump administration is updating the National Climate Assessments that have been previously published, which the administration recently removed from government websites.
Utility Dive
(August 7, 2025)
For utilities, this is not only about supporting customer growth but also about protecting grid integrity and infrastructure investments in an increasingly resource-constrained environment.
Canary Media
(August 7, 2025)
EPA chief Lee Zeldin claims the “big beautiful bill” allows funds for the Solar for All program to be rescinded. Advocates say that’s false and promise to sue.
Wired
(August 6, 2025)
This rare planetary alignment will be visible from August 10 but will be best viewed later in the month. Here’s everything you need to know to see it at its best.
Fortune
(August 11, 2025)
Data center capital expenditures surged 53% year-over-year to $134 billion in the first quarter of 2025 alone. Meta is reportedly exploring a $200 billion investment in data centers, while Microsoft has committed $80 billion for 2025. OpenAI, SoftBank and Oracle have announced the $500 billion Stargate initiative. McKinsey projects that data centers will require $6.7 trillion worldwide by 2030. And the list goes on. Yet here’s the uncomfortable truth. Most of these resources will remain dramatically underutilized.
The Wall Street Journal
(August 10, 2025)
The $167 billion facility will require digging tunnels that plunge through high mountains to harness the power of a river that sharply descends through the deepest and possibly longest canyon on the planet.
Politico
(August 9, 2025)
The administration and its Republican allies in Congress say the Paris-based International Energy Agency discourages fossil fuel investments around the world.
Climate Home News
(August 8, 2025)
As discussions near the mid-way point, Washington has opted to forcefully oppose any measures aimed at curbing plastic production that could potentially threaten the country’s powerful petrochemical industry. In doing so, the US has sided with a group of fellow fossil fuel-producing nations, led by Gulf countries and Russia, in bringing the talks to a stalemate with no clear pathway to an agreement in sight.
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