The Piedmont News is an email digest of top news stories about conservation, land use, energy, and environmental matters of interest to the region. We hope you’ll share The Piedmont News with someone else who cares about these stories.
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Business Insider
(November 7, 2025)
Over 20 years later, a walk in the woods near my home is my peace. To find a family of river otters in a stream, or to go see the birds in the trees — it just tickles me to death. Now, developers have just cleared that land to build a 402,000-square-foot data center less than a mile from my home. I don't want to lose what I have. A walk in the woods gives me peace, and they're taking a big piece of that away from me. We never considered moving until now.
Culpeper Star-Exponent
(November 6, 2025)
Energy independence and dual land use emerged as central pillars of a new crop-based “agrivoltaics” demonstration project in Loudoun County. A first of its kind in Virginia, solar power and agriculture are coexisting on the same parcel. Piedmont Environmental Council cut the ribbon Oct. 17 on the quarter-acre demonstration site in its Community Farm at Roundabout Meadows in Aldie, according to a news release.
This article highlights The Piedmont Environmental Council's crop-based agrivoltaics project in Loudoun County.
Heatmap
(November 6, 2025)
The techlash over data center development is becoming a potent political force that could shape elections for generations. At a national level, political leaders remain dedicated to the global race to dominate artificial intelligence. But cracks are beginning to show when it comes to support for the infrastructure necessary to get there. Nearly every week now across the U.S., from arid Tucson, Arizona, to the suburban sprawl of the D.C. area, Americans are protesting, rejecting, restricting, or banning new data center development.
This article quotes Piedmont Environmental Council President Chris Miller.
Rest of World
(November 5, 2025)
One winter morning in Quilicura, Chile, plumes of water vapor rose out of a warehouse-like building that serves as Google’s only operational data center in Latin America. Inside, vast halls of servers power the cloud, the invisible infrastructure that stores data and powers artificial intelligence. The Chilean government and technology companies like Google and Microsoft have said they will create thousands of jobs in the economy. In June, President Gabriel Boric announced that Microsoft’s hyperscale data center cluster would generate over 81,000 jobs. An analysis of 17 data center projects that underwent environmental review since 2012 shows they would directly hire no more than 1,547 full-time operations employees.
Virginia Mercury
(November 4, 2025)
Building on a temporary state-level version of the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) announced last week, state agencies are collaborating on a food drive effort to further bolster food-insecure communities around Virginia, Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced Tuesday morning. Dubbed the Virginia Cares Initiative, people are encouraged to sign up to donate food and money to the state’s regional food banks. Participants will then receive a list of high-demand food items, drop off locations and hours of operation for the banks.
Utility Dive
(November 4, 2025)
Twenty-five years ago, a data center boom helped fuel a race to build gas-fired power plants, with the energy secretary, utilities, politicians and experts warning of blackouts and economic stagnation if the country didn’t meet surging demand for electricity. By 2001, however, the dot com bubble had burst, the economy was in recession and the huge demand increase never materialized. Efficiency and productivity improved rapidly, and demand remained more or less level for the next two decades, leaving many utilities with excess capacity and ratepayers footing the bill.
NBC News
(November 1, 2025)
Standing in a 40-acre field of Christmas trees, Lisa Gaver traced the path of the high-voltage power line that could one day cut through the heart of her family’s farm. “It’s going to financially devastate us,” she said. “There’s $4 million worth of inventory in this field.” Gaver, a seventh-generation farmer, wants no part of what she and other landowners in rural Maryland call an “extension cord” for data centers in Northern Virginia 50 miles away.
Fauquier Times
(October 31, 2025)
A year ago, the operator of the Mid-Atlantic grid asked its utilities to predict how much energy data centers will demand in the future. The responses sent shock waves through the power community. Last week, the utilities updated their predictions: They were nearly double what they predicted only one year earlier.
This article quotes Piedmont Environmental Council President Chris Miller.
Rappahannock News
(October 31, 2025)
A new way of using solar power with crops — the first project of its kind in Virginia — is already catching the eye of some Rappahannock farmers. Called agrivoltaics, the innovative, renewable energy project places solar panels over crop plantings, allowing both solar energy production and farming on the same land. “I think it is a way more attractive possibility than a solar project that takes farmland out of farming,” said Rachel Bynum, who owns Waterpenny Farm in Sperryville with her husband Eric Plaksin. Kathryn Everett, who operates a cow and calf operation at Chancellors Rock Farm in Flint Hill, said agrivoltaics could help farmers financially.
This article highlights The Piedmont Environmental Council's crop-based agrivoltaics project in Loudoun County.
Reuters
(October 31, 2025)
Dominion Energy, the U.S. electric utility powering "data center alley" in Northern Virginia, said on Tuesday it was in some stage of contracting to provide data centers with 47 gigawatts of capacity, more electricity than what is needed for all of Virginia.
Richmond Times-Dispatch
(November 7, 2025)
The documentary focuses on the ever-changing nature of the park and captures some of its most elusive animals. “The Blue Ridge Mountains is one of the most ancient mountain ranges in the United States … life is just constantly evolving on the Blue Ridge Mountains,” Elizabeth Crowl, director and executive producer, said during a question-and-answer session after the film played.
WUSA 9
(November 3, 2025)
As data centers continue to grow across Northern Virginia, residents are looking for answers. Virginia's data center boom just keeps growing, bringing jobs and investment, but also some big challenges for local communities. This morning we're digging into what's fueling that growth and really what it means for residents from higher power demands to rising electricity costs. And joining us now to talk about it are Justin Puccio with Databank and Brian Rothamel from Culpeper County Economic Development to break it all down.
Royal Examiner
(November 1, 2025)
For farmers like Isabel Bauer in Augusta County, the benefits are environmental as well as practical. “Participating in the VGBI Initiative brought home the realization that rotational grazing, including summer stockpiling, is key to restoring the health and balance in nature as a whole,” Bauer said. In Greene County, Francis McGuigan was amazed at the change on his property. “The results were dramatic,” he said, after seeing a flock of more than 30 goldfinches feasting on seedheads in one of his delayed-hay fields—a huge jump from the two or three he might have spotted in past years.
This article highlights The Piedmont Environmental Council's Virginia Grassland Bird Initiative and quotes PEC's Lauria McShane.
Rocktown Now
(October 31, 2025)
The Virginia Grassland Bird Initiative announced the opening of its incentives program for landowners and farmers. Now through November 30, farmers in 16 counties across the Blue Ridge, northern Virginia Piedmont, and now also in the Shenandoah Valley can apply for financial incentives to implement practices that help support nesting grassland birds during the 2026 haying and grazing season.
This article highlights The Piedmont Environmental Council's Virginia Grassland Bird Initiative and quotes PEC's Lauria McShane.
Inside Climate News
(October 30, 2025)
In a surprise move that could benefit PJM Interconnection, four state governors have submitted a joint proposal formulated with the Data Center Coalition (DCC), an industry group, that favors approving connections to data center firms that will generate and add their own power to the grid.
Green Risks
(October 19, 2025)
Now, the farm is being used for an agrivoltaics demonstration project. The PEC is experimenting with growing crops under solar panels to determine what works and what doesn’t. A small corner of the farm has become a crop-based agrivoltaics demonstration project. They hope the combination of solar panels and vegetable farming will showcase how much-needed renewable energy can complement, not harm, agricultural lands, at a time when data centers are demanding more and more electricity.
This article highlights The Piedmont Environmental Council's crop-based agrivoltaics project in Loudoun County.
C-VILLE Weekly
(November 5, 2025)
Albemarle County has one of the highest median incomes in Virginia, with $125,800 for a family of four, which is an important statistic that makes the provision of affordable housing much more difficult. In July 2021, the Board of Supervisors passed a new housing policy intended to encourage more units, but a program to help developers make the finances work was not adopted until a few years later.
Information Charlottesville
(November 5, 2025)
Unlike Charlottesville, Albemarle County’s Board of Supervisors and the Planning Commission play an important role in deciding what can be built where. The county’s zoning code describes what can happen on a given property. Developers can seek rezonings and Virginia law requires a locality’s Planning Commission to recommend what elected officials should do.
Information Charlottesville
(November 5, 2025)
For years, long-term plans for U.S. 29 in both Albemarle County and Charlottesville have called for commercial uses to be replaced with places for people to live. There has been progress toward implementation of that idea such as at Stonefield which has seen hundreds of units built in the last dozen years. There are several plans for new construction of hundreds of units at various stages of development.
CBS 19 News
(November 2, 2025)
To wrap up Halloween weekend, there was a spooky bike ride through Charlottesville. “It's fun. It's great to bring people together to celebrate a special holiday, a spooky holiday, and connect on a more personal sustainable level,” said Caroline Kranefuss, a volunteer with the Piedmont Environmental Council.
This event was sponsored and hosted by The Piedmont Environmental Council.
The Winchester Star
(November 3, 2025)
A $20 million hotel complex proposed for southwestern Loudoun County has the Clarke County Board of Supervisors concerned. During their monthly work session Monday morning, the supervisors expressed concerns about traffic the complex could generate on nearby roads and the hotel’s potential water use, among other things. Plans show Eastwind Blue Ridge is to be developed on almost 147 acres in the vicinity of Paris Mountain. Most of the property is in Loudoun County, but almost 38 acres are in Clarke County and about 15½ acres are in Fauquier County, a site plan shows.
The Winchester Star
(November 2, 2025)
Between one and two inches of rain fell across the Northern Shenandoah Valley between roughly 8:30 p.m. Wednesday and 8 a.m. Thursday, according to National Weather Service reports. It was the heaviest bout of precipitation since mid-July when approximately 1.5 inches also fell. However, the U.S. Drought Monitor website now shows Winchester and all of Frederick County, plus most of Clarke County, to be suffering from severe drought.
Culpeper Star-Exponent
(November 4, 2025)
Following more than five years of review, study, numerous meetings, public hearing and citizen input, the Town of Culpeper has a new, combined zoning and subdivision ordinance. Town Council at its regular October meeting adopted the “Unified Development Ordinance” or UDO. The document includes a new, limited “data center overlay district” and updated, existing historic and watershed protection overlays.
Culpeper Star-Exponent
(November 3, 2025)
Kelly Arford-Horne becomes new director of archaeology and cultural resources at Historic Germanna. She succeeds Eric Larsen, who left the Locust Grove-based historic organization last week after more than a decade of leadership, according to an Oct. 28 release.
WUSA 9
(November 3, 2025)
As data centers continue to grow across Northern Virginia, residents are looking for answers. Virginia's data center boom just keeps growing, bringing jobs and investment, but also some big challenges for local communities. This morning we're digging into what's fueling that growth and really what it means for residents from higher power demands to rising electricity costs. And joining us now to talk about it are Justin Puccio with Databank and Brian Rothamel from Culpeper County Economic Development to break it all down.
Culpeper Star-Exponent
(November 1, 2025)
A contract enacted earlier this week between the Town of Culpeper, Dominion Energy and a Denver, Colo. data center developer seeks to guarantees the town will receive at least $1.5 million annually in local tax revenue for each data center built—regardless of the potential tax-exempt status of the end users. Hively said as he did research about giving up the town’s territory “we found the developers … have a tendency to contract with hyperscale users” which have tax exempt divisions. Banking data centers are exempt from personal property taxes, Hively said, as Manassas recently found out. “They didn’t get the revenue they were anticipating,” Hively said. “It raises questions. Where would one of these have a tendency to locate?” Culpeper’s lower tax rate creates a higher risk for that scenario, he said.
This article quotes Piedmont Environmental Council land use representative Sarah Parmelee.
Culpeper Star-Exponent
(November 3, 2025)
nother area nonprofit is stepping up food provisions in response to the ongoing government shutdown.
Fauquier FISH opened its food pantry on Oct. 30 for a special session to support federal workers impacted by the closure. The food pantry at 680A Industrial Road in Warrenton will be open normal hours on Tuesday to welcome any family struggling to afford food, including those who may be waiting on delayed SNAP benefits.
Fauquier Times
(November 1, 2025)
In Northern Virginia, about 175,000 federal workers have been going without pay. Another 3,200 people who receive benefits under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, will not see their electronic cards recharged as of Nov. 1. Fauquier FISH held a special session for federal workers this week and some pantries are extending their hours.
Fauquier Now
(October 31, 2025)
Citizens for Fauquier County on Thursday announced a leadership change, with Kevin Ramundo stepping down from his role as president after five years. Mary Page, a longtime board member for the preservation- and conservation-focused nonprofit, will succeed Ramundo, effective Nov. 1.
Middleburg Life
(October 30, 2025)
Citizens for Fauquier County on Sunday celebrated its 2025 Kitty P. Smith Award recipients, Sue Scheer and Kay Hayes, at Hopefield, the historic home of Hope Porter, who founded the organization in 1968. The award is given annually to honor outstanding conservationists who have contributed throughout their lifetime to preserving Fauquier’s rural landscape, historical resources, and agricultural economy. Scheer and Hayes were joined at the event by many friends in attendance.
This article mentions The Piedmont Environmental Council.
Washington Business Journal
(November 5, 2025)
A global data center investor has acquired 97 acres on the south side of Cochran Mill Road immediately north of the Washington & Old Dominion Trail for $615.05 million, a deal that appears to set a new high-water mark for price per acre. The sellers are all affiliates of land speculator and developer Chuck Kuhn’s JK Land Holdings. The land is approved for for five new data centers.
Loudoun Now
(November 4, 2025)
County leaders are continuing their work to rewrite zoning regulations for rural Loudoun including the approximately 50,000 acres of steep slopes. Business owners say tighter restrictions on that land impede efforts to protect the ridges, but environmentalists and area residents say failing to act will result in the destruction of a valuable environmental resource. The Piedmont Environmental Council has been among those advocating for stricter restrictions, saying the mountainsides provide enormous environmental benefits.
This article quotes Piedmont Environmental Council Senior Land Use Field Representative Gem Bingol.
Loudoun Now
(November 4, 2025)
Loudoun Hunger Relief Executive Director Jennifer Montgomery said the food pantry has increased appointment and service hours in light of uncertainty regarding SNAP benefits and the first missed full paychecks for federal employees as a result of government shutdown. The state government is working to fill the gap through the Virginia Emergency Nutrition Assistance program, but Montgomery said LHR is doing its best to have enough resources on hand for “whatever might come our way.”
Loudoun Now
(November 3, 2025)
Finalists in The Piedmont Environmental Council’s 15th Annual Photo Contest have been selected, and community members are now invited to view the images and vote for their favorites through Sunday, Nov. 16.
This article highlights PEC's annual photography contest.
Loudoun Now
(October 30, 2025)
VDOT invites residents and travelers to take an online survey on a study assessing potential safety, operational and bicycle/pedestrian improvements along the approximately eight-mile stretch of Rt. 7 between the Leesburg Bypass interchange on Market Street and the Algonkian Parkway/Atlantic Boulevard interchange in Sterling.. The survey, which has a translation tool for Spanish and other languages, is available through Nov. 11.
Middleburg Life
(October 30, 2025)
On Tuesday, October 28, from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., the Piedmont Environmental Council (PEC) Plantings for the Piedmont program, along with roughly 30 community volunteers, planted about 220 native trees at the EcoVillage of Loudoun County in Lovettsville.
This article higlights the Piedmont Environmental Council's Plantings for the Piedmont program.
Loudoun Times-Mirror
(October 29, 2025)
A county water project designed to fix issues with drinking water and wastewater in Paeonian Springs and Waterford is in the design stage, according to Loudoun County officials.
The county held a community meeting about the project on Tuesday night at the Rust Library in Leesburg. Many participants criticized the project, though their concerns aren’t universal.
Blue Ridge Leader
(October 29, 2025)
The Valley Commerce Center rezoning application (LEGI-2023-0080), which proposes a change from Joint Land Management Area–3 (JLMA-3) to Planned Development–Industrial Park (PD-IP), is tentatively scheduled for discussion at the Nov. 13 Planning Commission work session. Applicant Chuck Kuhn, representing 17110 Purcellville Rd. LLC, has submitted updated proffers that include enhanced buffering along Purcellville Road and portions of the property boundary adjoining Wright Farm. Kuhn is also committing to limit building heights to 32 feet along Purcellville Road and 40 feet along the Wright Farm boundary.
Blue Ridge Leader
(October 29, 2025)
As the fifth in an extensive chain of eight meetings hosted by the Board of Supervisors, staff and representatives gathered on Sept. 30 to discuss western Loudoun rural uses and standards. Conversation up until this point had already addressed a litany of topics (and grievances) raised by the community. Now, the Board was on to discussing the standards and costs of mountainside development, feature protections, tree clearing and land disturbance, and the regulations surrounding signs for businesses.
Loudoun Now
(October 28, 2025)
The Town of Leesburg’s Parks and Recreation Department has launched its Master Planning Process, a virtual way for the community to share input on the future of parks and recreation in town. Leesburg residents may visit the Parks and Recreation website and find a link to the master planning process where they can take a survey seeking information on which projects they would like funded, sharing thoughts on the interactive map, and posting and reading comments on the idea wall.
UVa Center for Cultural Landscapes
(November 1, 2025)
On October 19, 2025, members of the Center for Cultural Landscapes team joined the Madison County African American Historical Association (MCAAHA) and community members gathered in Madison, Virginia, for a deeply moving memorial honoring the lives of enslaved people and reflected on their enduring legacy in Madison County.
The Rapidan Register
(November 1, 2025)
While thought to be a low-cost fertilizer for farmers, the spread of biosolids on agricultural land within Orange County is leaving some residents concerned. Last week, the Department of Environmental Quality held a public hearing regarding Synagro’s application to renew its Orange County permit to apply biosolids on 2,564.9 acres of agricultural and silvicultural land. According to Don McCowan of the Piedmont Environmental Council, 24 of the 38 sources Synagro will be getting its biosolids from have been identified as containing PFAs.
This article quotes Piedmont Environmental Council Land Use Field Representative Don McCown.
Virginia Mercury
(October 31, 2025)
Farmers nationwide often use biosolids — human waste that has been treated by wastewater facilities — as a cheaper, readily available fertilizer option for their soils. But there is a rising concern of PFAS, better known as forever chemicals, being spread on farmland through this waste. Virginia currently does not test biosolids for PFAS – and one county wants it done before they approve more permits.
Rappahannock News
(November 5, 2025)
The Rappahannock County Food Pantry is stepping up to meet the needs of the community and put food on the table in the wake of national uncertainty surrounding the federal food stamp program called SNAP, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
Rappahannock News
(November 1, 2025)
At its meeting Monday, the Town of Washington Planning Commission voted against the Rush River Commons' development plans expressing the same chief concerns it shared Oct. 28, 2024 and at hearings since then. Several commissioners proposed in their discussions that what the community needs, and wants, is more affordable housing, and posited that although the ability to include housing in this second development phase may have been bargained away in negotiations with the county, the issue is pressing and should be revisited.
WJLA-ABC7News
(November 6, 2025)
Amazon has bought the land in Prince William County at the center of heated debates and marathon board of supervisors meetings over whether or not allow data centers to be built there, according to a report by the Washington Business Journal. The report revealed Amazon Data Services paid $700 million for the majority of the plot of undeveloped land near Devlin Road, south of Interstate 66, in Bristow.
Prince William Times
(November 6, 2025)
Nearly 200 area residents, many of them angry, staged a protest Wednesday evening outside a Dominion Energy "open house" to voice their concerns about planned high-power transmission lines that would cut through their Nokesville and Bristow communities.
Fox5DC
(November 5, 2025)
Dominion is holding an open house on the campus of George Mason University to engage neighbors about their concerns around this project, which is why organizers held a rally on Wednesday. The organizers of the rally against the data centers say they are sick of feeling like their neighborhoods are becoming extension cords for big data.
Washington Business Journal
(November 4, 2025)
A future data center campus in western Prince William County has sold for a staggering $700 million, ranking it among the top deals for raw land in U.S. history and proving again there is seemingly no price ceiling for fully entitled data center assemblages.
Potomac Local News
(November 4, 2025)
“Prince William County is launching an exciting new planning effort to help guide thoughtful, sustainable growth along the Vint Hill Road Corridor,” the county’s Planning Office announced. The Vint Hill Corridor SAP will be developed in collaboration with residents, business owners, and local stakeholders to balance growth, enhance mobility, and support locally rooted businesses while maintaining the area’s rural charm. A community kickoff meeting will take place on November 17.
InsideNoVa
(November 2, 2025)
Nvidia, the world’s most valuable company at $5 trillion, is set to make a sizable imprint in Manassas come 2026, as data center proliferation continues in greater Prince William County. Nvidia refers to its data centers as "factories,” the next of which will be known as the Aurora AI Factory – a 96-megawatt facility built by Digital Realty and expected to be completed in the first half of 2026.
Futurism
(November 1, 2025)
Richards, who lives in a hot bed of data centers, isn’t alone in her complaints; many people across the country are also increasingly upset about the negative impact from living near data centers, whose presence has grown in recent years due to the artificial intelligence gold rush.
Rappahannock News
(October 31, 2025)
The Virginia Court of Appeals this week issued a pivotal order staying Circuit Court Judge Kimberly A. Irving’s voiding in August of PW Digital Gateway, allowing construction to proceed as scheduled on the data center project while the appeal is heard. At full buildout, the Digital Gateway near Gainesville would be the largest data center corridor in the world, with over 22 million square feet of data centers spread out across over 2,100 acres in western Prince William. The project would include 37 data centers overall, roughly the size of 144 Walmart supercenters.
WUSA 9
(October 29, 2025)
Metro could be getting an additional $460 million per year in new funding. This comes as the DMV Moves task force voted Wednesday to move forward with major long-term planning that will impact metro, bus, and train systems in DC, Maryland, and Virginia.
Royal Examiner
(November 1, 2025)
For farmers like Isabel Bauer in Augusta County, the benefits are environmental as well as practical. “Participating in the VGBI Initiative brought home the realization that rotational grazing, including summer stockpiling, is key to restoring the health and balance in nature as a whole,” Bauer said. In Greene County, Francis McGuigan was amazed at the change on his property. “The results were dramatic,” he said, after seeing a flock of more than 30 goldfinches feasting on seedheads in one of his delayed-hay fields—a huge jump from the two or three he might have spotted in past years.
This article highlights The Piedmont Environmental Council's Virginia Grassland Bird Initiative and quotes PEC's Lauria McShane.
Rocktown Now
(October 31, 2025)
The Virginia Grassland Bird Initiative announced the opening of its incentives program for landowners and farmers. Now through November 30, farmers in 16 counties across the Blue Ridge, northern Virginia Piedmont, and now also in the Shenandoah Valley can apply for financial incentives to implement practices that help support nesting grassland birds during the 2026 haying and grazing season.
This article highlights The Piedmont Environmental Council's Virginia Grassland Bird Initiative and quotes PEC's Lauria McShane.
Free Lance-Star
(November 7, 2025)
Along with local and state officials, Gov. Glenn Youngkin enthusiastically announced on Thursday that Vantage Data Centers will invest $2 billion in its Stafford County campus. Stafford already has approved the project, on the southwest side of Centreport Parkway between Mountain View Road and Aviation Way. Plans call for three data center buildings, totaling about 929,000 square feet, on 82 acres.
Richmond Times-Dispatch
(November 7, 2025)
After five hours of public comment, Goochland County's Board of Supervisors approved a plan that will allow the construction of data centers in undeveloped swaths of land in the county's east end. The board approved the so-called technology overlay district early Friday morning, despite scores of residents who spoke against the plan at a marathon meeting. By the time the conversation finished, around 12:30 a.m., the board voted 4-1 to approve the district.
Fredericksburg Free Press
(November 6, 2025)
Board Chair William Davis of the Dahlgren District said the decision was strictly about the supervisors’ thoughts on the project, which developers say will generate $11.3 million in revenue over its lifespan. Davis said the supervisors are not the final authority on the debate regarding the $1.4 million open-space conservation easement that has been on the property since 2001.
This article quotes Piedmont Environmental Council Director of Land Conservation Mike Kane.
Fredericksburg Free Press
(November 4, 2025)
The Spotsylvania County Board of Supervisors election turned out to be a referendum on the data center industry. Two of the industry’s staunchest critics — current Lee Hill District Supervisor Lori Hayes and Berkeley District challenger David Goosman — handedly defeated challenger Marcus Garcia and incumbent Kevin Marshall, respectively. Garcia and Marshall oppose implementing a special use permit (SUP) for data centers in areas zoned Industrial. Hayes and Goosman are in favor of an SUP.
Fredericksburg Free Press
(October 30, 2025)
The Spotsylvania County Board of Supervisors and planning commission went back to the drawing board Tuesday night, holding a joint work session to again discuss design standards for data centers on land zoned Industrial. The board previously agreed to advertise 1,000-foot setbacks for the industry, but two board members said at a meeting two weeks ago that they’d had a change of heart.
Virginia Mercury
(November 7, 2025)
Fresh off a decisive election night, Gov.-elect Abigail Spanberger is promising a sharp turn in Virginia’s energy policy, vowing to boost in-state power generation, lower costs, and force data centers to “pay their fair share.”
The Virginian-Pilot
(November 6, 2025)
Dominion Energy has filed its largest request for solar projects with state regulators — including a project in Hampton Roads — as part of its plan to meet long-term renewable energy goals set by the state six years ago.
Bay Journal
(November 6, 2025)
Environmental advocates believe Spanberger will advance bills that have been brewing in the General Assembly for years but have been stuck on outgoing Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s desk. While that remains to be seen, Spanberger made platform promises to make energy more affordable, and subsequently, ensure renewable energy is part of the conversation.
Inside Climate News
(November 5, 2025)
After big wins on election night, Democrats will have to decide whether easing requirements in the state’s ambitious climate law will be necessary to maintain Virginia’s status as the “data center capital of the world.”
This article quotes Piedmont Environmental Council President Chris Miller
Virginia Center for Investigative Journalism
(November 5, 2025)
Federal cancellations of food bank contracts and stalled assistance for needy families will hit hardest in Virginia's rural and urban communities, according to an analysis by the Virginia Center for Investigative Journalism at WHRO.
ABC 8 News
(November 4, 2025)
Virginia’s northern, central and southeastern localities have the highest share of residents receiving Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits, according to data from the Virginia Department of Social Services (VDSS). In 2024, one in 11 Virginia residents — or 9% of the state’s population — received food assistance, according to data from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. More than 850,000 Virginians are enrolled in SNAP as of September 2025, VDSS data showed.
Energy Wire
(November 6, 2025)
Democrats who campaigned on restraining electricity price increases won big Tuesday, including Abigail Spanberger in Virginia and Mikie Sherrill in New Jersey in their races for governor. That suggests that concern over energy “affordability” will continue to resonate with voters through next year, with incumbent governors and challengers of both parties battling over the role that fossil fuels, wind and solar power, and booming data center projects are playing in rising household costs.
The Cool Down
(November 5, 2025)
A pilot program in Virginia is testing variations in farmland use that combine crops and solar installations, with the potential to give agricultural producers and rural communities a boost during difficult times. According to CleanTechnica, the Piedmont Environmental Council in Virginia began developing this half-acre demonstration project long before it was named "Plan of the Year" as a part of the 2025 North American Agrivoltaics Awards.
This article includes The Piedmont Environmental Council's crop-based agrivoltaics project in Loudoun County.
Canary Media
(November 4, 2025)
Energy experts and community leaders say that continued reliance on fossil-fuel power plants is harmful and that sending electricity on transmission lines across rugged mountains plagued by hurricanes is impractical. Distributed generation, they argue, is the best way to supply Puerto Ricans with reliable, affordable power that can withstand natural disasters.
The Cool Down
(November 2, 2025)
Wealthy companies are increasingly investing in data-center development amid an AI boom. Yet everyday consumers usually foot the bill rather than companies. The Union of Concerned Scientists examined utility costs in seven states served by transmission company PJM: Illinois, Maryland, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia. UCS discovered that PJM passed over $4.3 billion in data-center transmission costs on to customers in the last year.
The Wall Street Journal
(November 1, 2025)
Gerry Clauss is a former electrician. But he had never worried so much about paying for electricity until the power bill on his single-family home hit $422 a month. That was over the summer, so he turned off the air conditioner, began freeze-drying bulk food purchases rather than storing them in his electric freezer, and started shutting off his lights more often. “It’s got to the point where people will do what they gotta do to survive,” the 65-year-old from Hainesport, N.J., said.
The New York Times
(October 31, 2025)
Four of the tech industry’s wealthiest companies made it clear this week that their spending on artificial intelligence was not about to slow down. But the outlays from Google, Meta, Microsoft and Amazon — which all raised their spending by billions of dollars, saying they needed to meet demand for A.I. — are increasingly feeding concerns that the tech industry is heading toward a dangerous bubble.
The Atlantic
(October 30, 2025)
According to one estimate, this data-center campus, far from complete, already demands more than 500 megawatts of electricity to power these calculations—as much as hundreds of thousands of American homes. When all the data centers in New Carlisle are built, they will demand more power than two Atlantas.
The Washington Post
(September 23, 2025)
On Dec. 31, a generous federal rooftop solar tax credit will expire thanks to the One Big Beautiful Bill signed by President Donald Trump in July. It could force the industry to address the issues that have made installing solar more expensive in the U.S. than elsewhere in the developed world.
