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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Inside Climate News
(November 12, 2025)
Energy analysts and environmentalists say diesel generators are expensive, noisy, highly polluting and exempt from Clean Air Act regulations in times of energy “emergencies.”
This article quotes Piedmont Environmental Council President Chris Miller.
The Center Square
(November 11, 2025)
A new report says Virginia offers some of the largest tax breaks in the country for data centers but does not publicly disclose which companies receive them or how much the exemptions are worth.
Loudoun Now
(November 10, 2025)
The Conservation Fund has completed the acquisition of Oak Hill, the 1,200-acre Loudoun County estate of former U.S. President James Monroe. The action is part of a broader effort to convert the property into a state park. It has been a years-long effort to permanently protect the last presidential Founding Father home in private hands.
WVVA
(November 10, 2025)
Governor Glenn Youngkin today unveiled a landmark investment of $15.5 million in Virginia Land Conservation Foundation (VLCF) funding, set to preserve an impressive 8,606 acres across the Commonwealth. This record level of funding, allocated for fiscal year 2026, will support 28 diverse projects.
The Piedmont Journal Recorder
(November 13, 2025)
People have been fascinated by hawks throughout history. Hawks have exceptional vision. Their eyesight can be up to eight times sharper than a human’s eyesight. Hawks are incredibly skilled flyers with some hawk species able to dive at speeds up to 150 mph or more.
WTOP News
(November 12, 2025)
It’s not fishable or swimmable yet, but according to the Potomac Conservancy, the Potomac River earned a grade of “B” for the fifth year in a row.
Chesapeake Bay Foundation
(November 12, 2025)
In addition to the hardships the federal workers and agencies that protect our waterways face, our region’s farmers are navigating unnecessary shutdown challenges to doing conservation work that’s good for clean water.
Information Charlottesville
(November 12, 2025)
The James River Association (JRA) publishes a report every two years that provides a snapshot of the health of the James River and its tributaries. In late October, the group released its latest report giving an overall grade of B.
Fauquier Times
(November 12, 2025)
In the past, keeping Shenandoah open has meant lost fees and damage to the park, including graffiti on historic structures, overflowing trash cans, and mountains of used toilet paper littered behind closed bathrooms, according to Jim Schaberl, who was the Shenandoah’s division chief for natural and cultural resources, backcountry and trails during the 2018 shutdown.
The Northern Virginia Daily
(November 10, 2025)
By cutting hay a few weeks later, Shenandoah Valley farmers could save both money and birds. A new conservation program is paying producers to delay mowing and grazing so threatened grassland species can safely nest.
This article highlights The Piedmont Environmental Council's Virginia Grassland Bird Initiative and quotes PEC's October Greenfield and Lauria McShane.
C-VILLE Weekly
(November 12, 2025)
For months, the Public Housing Association of Residents has been asking Charlottesville City Council to step in to halt two proposed student housing buildings, on West Main Street and in Fifeville.
Information Charlottesville
(November 8, 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... To that number we can now add 191 new units now that potential new owners of the Holiday Inn on Emmet Street have filed plans to convert the structure into an apartment building to be called The Palms.
The Winchester Star
(November 12, 2025)
An area farm is one of 28 properties statewide to receive a share of $15.5 million in Virginia Land Conservation Foundation (VLCF) funds to help preserve farmland and open spaces. Windfield Farm in Clarke County was awarded $200,000 toward a conservation easement to protect more than 126 acres, Gov. Glenn Youngkin recently announced.
Culpeper Times
(November 6, 2025)
In a special called meeting held Oct. 28, the town council approved an electric service premise agreement allowing Dominion to provide power to data centers planned at the Culpeper Technology Campus and Cooper Ridge. The agreement releases the town’s obligation to provide power to the facilities itself, which town manager Chris Hively said would have been more than the town wanted to take on.
Fredericksburg Free Press
(November 9, 2025)
Dominion Energy isn’t going to release a sea monster on the region, but it is looking to build a 70-mile, 500-kilovolt transmission line known as the Kraken Loop. The line is proposed through Louisa, Spotsylvania, Caroline, Stafford and Fauquier counties and is designed to connect three substations: an existing one at North Anna and two new ones, the Kraken in Caroline and the Yeat in Fauquier.
Heatmap
(November 7, 2025)
A former Biden White House climate adviser just won a successful political campaign based on opposing data centers, laying out a blueprint for future candidates to ride frustrations over the projects into seats of power.
This article quotes Piedmont Environmental Council President Chris Miller.
Fauquier Now
(November 6, 2025)
When filmmaker James Bell stepped inside the kitchen of neighbor Donna Grove to make a documentary, he had little idea what he’d be in for. The original idea was to tell the story of the 100-year-old farmhouse in southern Fauquier and the deep ties to the land that had made it successful. But as Bell started to ask his first question, he realized something was wrong.
Loudoun County
(November 12, 2025)
The trail along New Cut Road/Airmont Road will serve more than 1,000 residents in the southern part of town and in neighborhoods south of the town boundaries. The project will provide a connection to the town’s Loudoun Street Park and to the Franklin Park Trail.
Loudoun Now
(November 11, 2025)
The Town Council in August referred the item to the commission after Mayor Christopher Bertaut raised concerns about potential legal exposure from spot zoning, the impression of unfairness to business owners outside the zone, and a vagueness of language regarding actual incentives, leading to the suggestion that the ordinance should be rewritten or repealed.
Loudoun Times-Mirror
(November 10, 2025)
A step toward allowing a proposed data center project in Leesburg won’t come to a public hearing until early 2026 after it was deferred at Tuesday’s Town Council meeting. The deferral was requested so the applicants can conduct more community outreach and address concerns about the application brought up in emails to the town, Leesburg mayor Kelly Burk said.
Loudoun Times-Mirror
(November 10, 2025)
Chesapeake Bay Restoration Fund grant money is coming to Loudoun County after a state committee approved more than 40 projects across Virginia, according to a statement on Monday from the office of state Del. David Reid, D-Loudoun.
Loudoun Now
(November 10, 2025)
What kind of restrictions should be placed on food trucks, restaurants, wineries and breweries in rural Loudoun is the latest topic taken up by county leaders involved in the rewriting process of the county’s rural zoning regulations.
Heatmap
(November 7, 2025)
A former Biden White House climate adviser just won a successful political campaign based on opposing data centers, laying out a blueprint for future candidates to ride frustrations over the projects into seats of power.
This article quotes Piedmont Environmental Council President Chris Miller.
The Rapidan Register
(November 9, 2025)
Last week, Madison County Supervisors authorized a contract with Sparks at Play for the construction of the new accessible playground as part of the ongoing Hoover Ridge Outdoor Recreation Center project.
Culpeper Star-Exponent
(November 10, 2025)
A portion of Civil War battlefield in Orange County still being fought over has been placed in conservation easement... Comprised of nearly 40 acres, the Randolph Artillery Tract lies completely within the 1863 Mine Run Battlefield and contains a historic cemetery, according to a release from the governor’s office.
The Piedmont Journal Recorder
(November 10, 2025)
The Orange County Planning Commission continued working on defining the proposed new technology district after quickly discussing a rezoning and special use permit applications Thursday night.
The Rapidan Register
(November 8, 2025)
During last week’s board meeting, supervisors voted to authorize chairman Mark Johnson to send a letter to DEQ commenting on the permit application. The two-page letter states that while the board supports the application of biosolids for farmers in the county who want to use the substance for fertilizer, it opposed the approval of any permit for biosolids that contain PFAs.
Rappahannock News
(November 8, 2025)
Two families with Rappahannock roots that go back generations were buyer and seller in a land transaction last week that could result in Sperryville being the site of the most ambitious housing development in Rappahannock County to date.
Rappahannock News
(November 7, 2025)
A plan from FirstEnergy to rebuild a Sperryville-to-Luray transmission line will move ahead early next year, said Dan Tompkins, the company’s director of project engagement and outreach, at the Rappahannock County Board of Supervisors meeting on Monday.
The Washington Post
(November 9, 2025)
Prince William County’s Gainesville district, where Democrat George Stewart defeated Republican Patrick Harders, has become an epicenter for a broader backlash against the industry.
InsideNoVa
(November 7, 2025)
Residents of Prince William’s Brentsville District are voicing their displeasure after an October Planning Commission hearing for three proposed rezonings totaling 1,058 homes proceeded as scheduled despite the Brentsville commissioner being absent from the meeting.
Prince William Times
(November 6, 2025)
A plan to allow another new data center near George Mason University’s Manassas campus was dealt a blow Wednesday when the county planning commission narrowly voted to recommend that it be rejected.
WUSA 9
(November 12, 2025)
A major rail expansion project is underway in Northern Virginia, and transportation leaders say it could dramatically reduce delays for the thousands of riders who pass through Alexandria each day.
Virginia Mercury
(November 13, 2025)
Despite their efforts, business was still significantly down for the town on the one-year anniversary of the storm, largely because the most popular part of the Virginia Creeper Trail — the town’s chief recreational attraction — was washed away. Now, the community is taking the first steps to bringing it back.
Richmond Times-Dispatch
(November 13, 2025)
The state government says it expects that 65% of regular monthly SNAP benefits for more than 850,000 Virginians will be distributed by Thursday. The Virginia Department of Social Services prepared this Q&A on SNAP guidance.
The New Energy Crisis
(November 13, 2025)
Two issues scared people away from nuclear energy in the 1970s: safety and waste. As nuclear energy gets front-burnered again, where do those two issues stand? And is the recent much-publicized breakthrough in fusion energy going to bring safer, cleaner power soon?
This article is the eighth in an multi-part series published in The New Energy Crisis, a project by the Fauquier Times and Prince William Times. Read more in this series at The New Energy Crisis.
Audubon
(November 11, 2025)
Fifty-four Christmas Bird Counts (CBCs) were conducted in Virginia for the 2024-2025 season. The total number of species tallied on the 2024-2025 counts was 212 which is just below the 2023-2024 season total of 213.
Bay Journal
(November 11, 2025)
The Community Climate Collaborative, a nonprofit group, released its latest report from a series of studies analyzing who is hit the hardest with energy bills in Charlottesville, Albemarle County and now Richmond. Low-income households with predominantly people of color tend to spend the highest percentage of their income on energy bills. As energy rates threaten to rise, the report suggests that solar energy could be part of the solution.
WHRO
(November 10, 2025)
The Virginia Clean Economy Act passed in 2020 requires the company to generate power from only renewable sources by 2045. About 16,000 megawatts is supposed to come specifically from solar and onshore wind, some through power purchase agreements. Dominion is now seeking approval for 11 solar and battery projects as part of its race to meet those goals.
CBS News
(November 9, 2025)
Virginia Gov.-elect Abigail Spanberger — who promised during her campaign to prioritize affordable energy if she won — on Sunday doubled down on her views of the "energy crisis" that her state will face without new policies to hold the biggest users accountable.
Canary Media
(November 7, 2025)
The data-center capital of the world elected a Democratic governor and strengthened its House Democratic majority. Will they save its landmark clean energy law?
Rappahannock News
(November 7, 2025)
Virginia is one of the few states not suing the federal government after it terminated solar grant funding awarded under the last presidency. The Virginia Clean Advisory Board is seeking funding for other projects without the $156 million of the national Solar For All program terminated by the federal government in August.
Stateline
(November 12, 2025)
At least 36 states have crafted subsidies specifically for data center projects, according to Good Jobs First, a nonprofit watchdog group that tracks economic development incentives. But only 11 of those states — Arizona, Connecticut, Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota, Nevada, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, Washington and Wisconsin — disclose which companies receive those incentives.
France 24
(November 11, 2025)
Echoing the 1990s dotcom frenzy to build internet infrastructure, today's tech giants are spending unprecedented sums to construct the silicon backbone of the revolution in artificial intelligence... Building the massive information warehouses takes an average of two years in the United States; bringing new high-voltage power lines into service takes five to 10 years.
Cornell University
(November 10, 2025)
Now, Cornell researchers have used advanced data analytics – and, naturally, some AI, too – to create a state-by-state look at that environmental impact. The team found that, by 2030, the current rate of AI growth would annually put 24 to 44 million metric tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, the emissions equivalent of adding 5 to 10 million cars to U.S. roadways. It would also drain 731 to 1,125 million cubic meters of water per year – equal to the annual household water usage of 6 to 10 million Americans.
Tech Policy Press
(November 10, 2025)
As demand for data center capacity accelerates, local government officials across the United States are weighing the promise of jobs, tax revenue, and other economic development benefits against the strains these facilities place on land, water, and power systems that often exceed the assumptions built into existing zoning codes, permitting processes, and infrastructure plans.
Canary Media
(November 10, 2025)
Hyperscalers are investing in new clean-energy tech and rethinking how they run data centers. Canary Media spoke with leaders at the SOSV Climate Tech Summit.
Wired
(November 10, 2025)
A new analysis tries to calculate the coming environmental footprint of AI in the US and finds that the ideal sites for data centers aren’t where they’re being built.
Bloomberg
(November 10, 2025)
Two of the world’s biggest data center developers have projects in Nvidia Corp.’s hometown that may sit empty for years because the local utility isn’t ready to supply electricity.
Associated Press
(November 8, 2025)
Voter anger over the cost of living is hurtling forward into next year’s midterm elections, when pivotal contests will be decided by communities that are home to fast-rising electric bills or fights over who’s footing the bill to power Big Tech’s energy-hungry data centers.
Pew
(November 4, 2025)
Lawmakers across the United States are turning to a relatively simple but potentially effective reform to ease the nation’s housing shortage: Allow small and medium-sized apartment buildings to have a single stairway rather than two, as is required in most of the country.
The Washington Post
(November 12, 2025)
Global carbon emissions from fossil fuels are projected to rise to an all-time high this year, with increases expected to accelerate in the United States and European Union but slow in China and India, according to a report published Wednesday evening.
The New York Times
(November 9, 2025)
The leaders of China, Russia and Japan won’t be there. Neither will the leaders of Australia, Indonesia or Turkey. But the most notable absence is that of the United States. For the first time since countries began gathering 30 years ago to take action against global warming, the U.S. is not sending any top officials.
The New York Times
(November 8, 2025)
The morning after Hurricane Melissa tore through Jamaica, Jennifer Hue, a retired tax auditor living close to hard-hit Treasure Beach, woke up to devastation. Her mango, breadfruit and papaya trees were lost, their tops snapped off by 180-mile-per-hour winds. There was water everywhere. But her roof was intact, and just as importantly, so were the solar panels she had installed two years ago. Most of her neighbors didn’t have electricity. But she did.
