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The Piedmont News: December 31, 2025
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 forward it with someone else who cares about these stories.
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Top Stories

  • Build, Build, Build: As data centers multiply, so must transmission lines. Protesting residents are scoring a few victories.

    Fauquier Times (December 30, 2025) “Build, build, build.” Those were the orders from David Rosner, the Trump-appointed chairman of the U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, delivered at his first public meeting Sept. 18. But here’s the rub: As Virginia counties approve permits for data centers, mainly to get their lucrative tax revenue, more high-powered transmission lines will have to be built to serve them and residents are highly resistant.

    This is Part 9 of an ongoing series of stories — The New Energy Crisis — that explores the repercussions for our region by the accelerating use of energy-intensive artificial intelligence. It is a project of the Fauquier Times and Prince William Times.

  • Column: Proposed rules threaten to shortchange solar families

    The Virginian-Pilot (December 27, 2025) On any given day in Virginia, thousands of homes quietly power themselves through rooftop solar and share extra electricity with their neighbors. That simple exchange is called net metering: When your panels produce more energy than you’re using at the moment, the surplus flows to the grid and you receive a bill credit. It just makes sense, and it helps everyone in the community. Now Dominion Energy wants to rewrite those rules — shrinking what families earn, while protecting its monopoly profits.

  • Conservation group sues EPA over PFAS contamination in Virginia waterways

    Virginia Mercury (December 24, 2025) The conservation group Wild Virginia has filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, alleging the agency failed to protect Virginia’s rivers and streams from PFAS, commonly known as “forever chemicals.” Wild Virginia alleges federal agency failed to require stronger protections for rivers and streams despite years of pollution data.

  • Debate over adding data centers to regional energy grid continues in federal filings

    WRIC (December 23, 2025) On Nov. 25, Monitoring Analytics, LLC — an independent watchdog — filed a complaint with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) against the regional energy grid operator PJM Interconnection, LLC. The watchdog further said that if these data centers were connected at the current capacity, blackouts would occur at those data centers or other customers at times, meaning PJM would not be serving customers the reliable, economical energy it is charged with facilitating.

  • The Nuclear Buzz: Nuclear energy fever is spreading fast, but can reactors ever be the answer to soaring data center demand?

    Fauquier Times (December 17, 2025) Without question, the U.S. will be producing more nuclear energy in five years than it does today. But can that solve the new energy crisis? Can that supply the 60 gigawatts of new data center demand that PJM’s utilities are forecasting for 2030? There are reasons to doubt it.

    This is Part 7 of an ongoing series of stories — The New Energy Crisis — that explores the repercussions for our region by the accelerating use of energy-intensive artificial intelligence. It is a project of the Fauquier Times and Prince William Times.

Regional

  • Youngkin’s Final Budget Supports Oak Hill Park Plan

    Loudoun Now (December 29, 2025) At this time last year, hopes were building that state leaders would line up behind plans to convert the former Loudoun County home of President James Monroe into a state park. Those plans fizzled in a Senate committee. However, work continued to open the 1,200-acre Oak Hill property—the last home of the Founding Fathers era of presidents to be in private hands—to the public. A proposal in Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s final budget could allow that to happen this year.

  • Climate change brings new species, new challenges to the bay

    Richmond Times-Dispatch (December 29, 2025) Warming temperatures and changing rainfall patterns are changing the Chesapeake Bay. New kinds of fish are venturing to the bay and long-established species face challenges, as their bodies respond to warmer temperatures and changing salinity — salt and ion levels — in bay waters, recent studies show.

  • What private well owners need to know about PFAS

    Fauquier Times (December 24, 2025) Communities around the country are scrambling to meet the EPA’s limits on PFAS, or "forever chemicals” requiring counties and municipalities like Fauquier County to test for these chemicals in drinking water. But private well owners are left with little guidance. ...a recent Virginia Tech study found that most well water, even in rural areas, likely has traces of these chemicals, WVTF recently reported.

  • Provide Winter Food for Wildlife with These Plants

    The Crozet Gazette (December 5, 2025) Once fall arrives and plants begin to go dormant, food sources for wildlife can become scarce. This is a critical problem, particularly for birds needing a diet rich in carbohydrates and fats to survive freezing weather. One way we can help is to incorporate plants into our landscape that offer shelter, cover from predators, and a variety of foods that nourish birds and other wildlife in the colder months. Here are some examples.

Albemarle County / Charlottesville

  • One PHA project on Park Street subject to regulatory review due to wetlands, another found to have no significant impact

    Information Charlottesville (December 29, 2025) Many steps are required to bring a potential residential development from an idea to a space where people can live. The Piedmont Housing Alliance cleared two hurdles on January 18, 2022 when City Council approved a rezoning of seven acres of land at Park Street Christian Church to “planned unit development” as well as a critical slopes waiver. The goal at 1200 Park Street is to build an additional fifty units on the property.

  • Albemarle Planning Commission briefed on build-out analysis tool

    Information Charlottesville (December 27, 2025) Albemarle County’s updated Comprehensive Plan goes into effect on January 1, 2026, complete with language that contemplates an eventual expansion of where developers can build. The growth area consists of roughly five percent of Albemarle’s 726 square miles and the county has a future land use map that describes what level of development is allowed on each parcel. Land use designations that allow for residential development each have a range of allowable density.

    Read how the Piedmont Environmental Council was involved in AC44 in our recent Piedmont View article: AC44 adopted: PEC’s engagement secures smarter land use planning in Albemarle

  • Contract awarded for project to make pedestrian improvements on Old Lynchburg Road

    Information Charlottesville (December 27, 2025) As Albemarle continues to grow, the county continues to move forward with several smaller-scale infrastructure projects In October, the county asked firms to bid on work to make it safer for pedestrians in a section of the county’s southern urban area. “The project is generally described as a new sidewalk and crosswalks along the West side of Old Lynchburg Road from the end of an existing sidewalk to the Rivanna Trail,” reads a section of the scope of work.

  • Second development plan for Westhaven increases number of units to 266

    Information Charlottesville (December 27, 2025) Consultants hired by the Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority have filed a second set of plans to prepare construction documents for a new Westhaven community. The first plan called for a total of 264 units but the second version increases that to 266 with shows 102 townhouse units and 164 apartment units.

  • Albemarle County to take step to make it easier to install rooftop solar in entrance corridors

    Information Charlottesville (December 24, 2025) In an era of increasing demand for power, the price to generate electricity is increasing. Some property owners may take advantage of their rooftops to install solar panels to offset costs. On Wednesday, the Albemarle Board of Supervisors will adopt a resolution of intent to make it easier to do on properties within one of the county’s entrance corridors. Currently the Architectural Review Board must approve any modification to the exterior of buildings but county staff want to study a way to remove that step.

  • Planning commission recommends approval of rezoning

    C-VILLE Weekly (December 24, 2025) The Albemarle County Planning Commission has recommended approval of a rezoning that would allow a mixed-use development with 600 homes on 62.5 acres of land close to the junction of U.S. 29 and Interstate 64. In September, members of the appointed body thought the plan was too vague with a proposed minimum of 100 units and a maximum of 1,200. Riverbend Development asked for a deferral so it could come back with revisions.

  • Charlottesville City Council briefed on next set of affordable housing requests

    C-VILLE Weekly (December 24, 2025) Charlottesville City Council will not officially see a draft of the next budget until March, but City Manager Sam Sanders spent some time on December 15 setting up the next round of requests for affordable housing funds. Charlottesville City Council adopted an affordable housing plan in 2021 that called for a minimum of $10 million a year on programs, a goal that has been surpassed each subsequent year. A question in the next budget cycle will be whether council wants to increase the goal.

  • County Explores Other Eastern Avenue Options

    The Crozet Gazette (December 5, 2025) In April of this year, Albemarle county’s Department of Facilities and Environmental Services (FES) put out a Request for Proposals inviting interested private entities to join in a public-private partnership (called a PPTA) to fund and build Crozet’s Eastern Avenue bridge/connector. No proposal was submitted by the deadline, and as a result, the procurement will be closed with no award under the Public-Private Transportation Act (PPTA). The department continues to look for alternatives.

Clarke County

  • Berryville sidewalk projects slated to start in January

    The Winchester Star (December 26, 2025) Construction on sidewalk projects in two Berryville neighborhoods is slated to start in January. One sidewalk will be installed along the south side of East Fairfax Street, in the block west of Page Street and in front of a cluster of townhouses. The other project will be on the north side of Mosby Boulevard between McNeill Drive and Hancock Court. Basically, it will involve connecting sidewalk sections that already exist, widening them to five feet.

  • Clarke supervisors seeking options for funding Va. 7 safety upgrades

    The Winchester Star (December 16, 2025) The Clarke County Board of Supervisors is seeking from the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) options for funding safety improvements to Va. 7 (Harry Byrd Highway) on Blue Ridge Mountain. Chairman David Weiss told Ed Carter, a regional VDOT engineer based in Edinburg, that the board particularly wants to see estimated costs for installing new deceleration/turning lanes at intersections. Deceleration lanes are extended paved areas along the edge of highways that help vehicles slow down before turning onto side roads.

  • Box Tree Moth Quarantine established for Winchester, Frederick, Clarke

    The Winchester Star (December 5, 2025) The Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (VDACS) on Friday announced the establishment of a Box Tree Moth Quarantine for Clarke and Frederick counties and the city of Winchester. Box tree moth (BTM) is an invasive insect pest that can significantly damage and potentially kill boxwood (Buxus species) plants if left unchecked. The caterpillars are ravenous feeders, and heavy infestations can completely defoliate host plants.

Fauquier County

  • How to recycle Christmas trees in Fauquier County

    Fauquier Times (December 24, 2025) Nearly 15 million Christmas trees end up in U.S. landfills each year after the holidays, according to Reuters. The fragrant trees are often left to slowly decompose in landfills, which releases methane, a harmful greenhouse gas, into the environment. Fauquier County residents ready to part with their evergreens can continue to spread holiday cheer by recycling, instead of trashing their trees. Here’s how.

  • Fauquier Habitat awarded $1.4M to build more affordable housing

    Fauquier Times (December 23, 2025) Fauquier Habitat for Humanity has secured $1.4 million to build affordable housing in Warrenton as part of the second phase of its Haiti Street revitalization project. It’s one of 47 affordable housing projects across the Commonwealth that will receive a slice of $154.5 million in affordable and special needs housing loans announced in a Dec. 18 news release by Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s office.

  • Remington updates town code, adds noise and nuisance ordinances

    Fauquier Times (December 17, 2025) Remington town council members voted to officially recodify the municipality’s code at Monday’s council meeting. The code was largely outdated and only existed on paper until now — meaning town officials would have to sift through a hefty three-ring binder any time they needed to reference an ordinance.

Loudoun County

  • Youngkin’s Final Budget Supports Oak Hill Park Plan

    Loudoun Now (December 29, 2025) At this time last year, hopes were building that state leaders would line up behind plans to convert the former Loudoun County home of President James Monroe into a state park. Those plans fizzled in a Senate committee. However, work continued to open the 1,200-acre Oak Hill property—the last home of the Founding Fathers era of presidents to be in private hands—to the public. A proposal in Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s final budget could allow that to happen this year.

  • Lovettsville Eyes State Grants to Address PFAS Contamination

    Loudoun Now (December 22, 2025) The Town of Lovettsville is looking at federal funding to help address water contaminated by “forever chemicals.” In 2024, the Environmental Protection Agency adopted new standards for poly- and perfluoroalkyl substances—synthetic chemicals used to make nonstick cookware, stain, water repellent clothing, and firefighting foam. Lovettsville Town Manager Jason Cournoyer told the Town Council this month that the town’s newest well at Park Place has tested above the new limits.

  • Commission Weighs NOVEC Plan for Arcola Area Substation

    Loudoun Now (December 19, 2025) A proposal by Northern Virginia Electric Cooperative permit construction of a new substation near Arcola to help provide additional power to the area, however the proposal must be approved by the county’s Planning Commission. According to NOVEC representative Gifford Hampshire, the substation is needed to serve data center demand in the area. There are approved data centers planned southwest and east of the property.

    This article quotes Emily Johnson, a land use field representative Piedmont Environmental Council, which opposed the proposal.

  • Loudoun Attainable Housing Projects Receive $19.5M in State Support

    Loudoun Now (December 19, 2025) Gov. Glenn Youngkin on Thursday announced $154.5 million in loans to attainable and special needs housing projects across the commonwealth, including $19.5 million for five Loudoun County projects. The Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development administers the Affordable and Special Needs Housing loans, which combine state and federal resources to provide gap financing that expedites construction of new and renovated housing.

  • Van Huyck Honored for Long Standing Preservation Efforts

    Loudoun Now (December 17, 2025) Professional planner and longtime preservation supporter Al Van Huyck was honored by the Loudoun County Preservation and Conservation Coalition last week. During and after his 40-year career, Van Huyck became involved in many of the county’s citizens groups, heritage and environmental organizations and government panels. He has received the Heritage Heroes Award from the Mosby Heritage Area Association, the Loudoun History Award from the Friends of Thomas Balch Library, and the Friend of the Mountain Award from the Friends of the Blue Ridge Mountains.

  • Laurel Hill Farm Designated as Virginia Historic Landamark

    Loudoun Now (December 16, 2025) The 30-acre Laurel Hill Farm near Waterford is the latest Loudoun property to be added to the Virginia Landmarks Register. The farm was established by some of the region’s earliest settlers through a 1762 land patent. For nearly 200 years—until 1959—the property was owned by descendants of the original pioneering families of western Loudoun County. Outbuildings highlight shifting agricultural practices at the farm, including wheat and dairy farming as well as the adoption of machines in the 20th century, according to the nomination documentation.

  • “My Little Piece of Heaven”: Waterford Landowner Preserves 36 Acres Forever with Land Trust of Virginia

    Middleburg Life (October 8, 2025) Just south of the historic village of Waterford, a cherished piece of Loudoun County farmland has been permanently protected. Thanks to the generosity of landowner Steffanie Burgevin, 36 acres of rolling fields and horse pastures will remain unchanged for generations to come under a conservation easement with the Land Trust of Virginia (LTV). For Burgevin, the decision was deeply personal.

Madison County

  • New event venue being discussed in Madison

    The Rapidan Register (December 26, 2025) Leonard and Lori Peters have applied for a special use permit (SUP) to operate an event venue, Eden Ridge, on 152 acres of A-1, agricultural, zoned land located off Novum Church Road in Reva. The Peters say the use will be low-impact with an emphasis on open landscape and minimal disturbances. The phased approach will allow the business to grow responsibly over time, they say with the permanent venue built in two to three years.

Rappahannock County

  • January public meeting set for Page-Sperryville transmission line project

    Rappahannock News (December 26, 2025) FirstEnergy and its subsidiary Potomac Edison will host a public information meeting on Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026, to present plans for rebuilding the Page-Sperryville electricity transmission line and gather community input on the proposed project. The meeting will take place from 6-8 p.m. at the Sperryville Volunteer Fire Department, located at 11871 Lee Hwy., Sperryville.

  • Rappahannock News Citizen of the Year 2025: Stephanie Ridder

    Rappahannock News (December 20, 2025) One of the first things you learn about Stephanie Ridder is that she can’t say no — not to a child who needs a tutor, a meadow that needs restoring, a firehouse that needs sweeping or a budget formula that needs unwinding. Ridder’s conservation work on behalf of Rappahannock’s landscapes — from statewide land-preservation policy to scientific surveys on her own 200-acre Flint Hill farm — has shaped both the county’s environmental future and her own role in public life.

    This article quotes Piedmont Environmental Council Senior Advisor John McCarthy.

Prince William County

  • Prince William supervisors approve additional $400K to defend Digital Gateway in court

    InsideNoVa (December 23, 2025) The Prince William Board of County Supervisors last week approved $400,000 in additional funding for litigation costs in the two major court cases linked to the controversial PW Digital Gateway rezoning. Shortly prior to the vote, Vega asked Michelle Robl, the county attorney, for an approximation of funds that has been alotted toward the project to date. Robl responded she would look into the issue and get back to the board.

  • BREAKING: New data center project covering 250 properties pitched for rural Gainesville

    Prince William Times (December 18, 2025) Another massive data center complex is being pitched for nearly 2,000 acres in rural Gainesville and Catharpin by a developer with ties to a Prince William County school board member and a former county supervisor. More than 250 landowners along Sanders Lane and surrounding areas – including Boxwood Farms, Shari Court, Dunigan Court, Logmill Road, Gables Green Way, Aldi Road and others – have joined their properties in a 1,930-acre assemblage for a project dubbed “Dulles South Innovation Center.”

Shenandoah Valley

  • January public meeting set for Page-Sperryville transmission line project

    Rappahannock News (December 26, 2025) FirstEnergy and its subsidiary Potomac Edison will host a public information meeting on Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026, to present plans for rebuilding the Page-Sperryville electricity transmission line and gather community input on the proposed project. The meeting will take place from 6-8 p.m. at the Sperryville Volunteer Fire Department, located at 11871 Lee Hwy., Sperryville.

Surrounding Area

  • Rappahannock River Crossing plan advances in 2025

    Culpeper Star-Exponent (December 30, 2025) Two years of studies and meetings resulted in a plan for possibly the area’s first bridge over the Rappahannock River west of Interstate 95. In early December, Fredericksburg transportation planners approved a crossing route option that can advance to a National Environmental Policy Act review. Funding is not yet available for the study, which is expected to cost between $1 million and $4 million.

  • WV drinking water infrastructure failing as state woos water-guzzling data centers

    Charleston Gazette-Mail (December 27, 2025) Jamie Jacobs and her husband split time between Morgantown and the Canaan Valley. They planned a move to the latter full time. "[Then] this whole Fundamental Data thing came in," Jacobs said. "So we're kind of on hold with that." Jacobs was talking about the plan to build and operate a gas turbine-powered facility in Tucker County, just downwind from her, expected to be a large-scale data center operation with vast diesel tank storage adn the source of a significant increase in air pollution.

  • Los Angeles investor buys Spotsylvania land for data center project

    Free Lance-Star (December 24, 2025) Los Angeles-based investment corporation has bought a large tract of land in Spotsylvania County with the intention of developing a data center campus. Ares Management Corporation, which reported that it manages more than $595 billion in assets globally, announced the acquisitions on Dec. 18. Ares has chosen Ada Infrastructure to develop and operate the site.

  • ‘We don’t have a lot of information’: Google advances Chesterfield data center amid concern from residents, researchers

    WRIC (December 23, 2025) A massive Google data center campus is moving forward in Chesterfield County after the company filed its site plan in early November. It’s a project county leaders call an economic win — but residents and data center researchers are raising concerns. “All of this has been secret — but even so, they won’t say how much water is going to be used,” Finley-Brook said. “They won’t say how many jobs are going to be provided. They’re still only providing a tiny bit of data, so that people don’t have access to the full picture.”

  • Regulators to consider appeal against Dominion Energy natural gas plant

    VPM (December 18, 2025) The State Corporation Commission suspended its approval of the Chesterfield Energy Reliability Center — a planned Dominion Energy Virginia natural gas plant that has drawn significant opposition from Central Virginia residents and environmental groups. Regulators said in a short filing Tuesday that the suspension will allow them more time to consider an appeal filed on Monday by Appalachian Voices, the NAACP and Mothers Out Front. Those groups opposed the plant and are represented by the Southern Environmental Law Center.

Virginia

  • Bailey Kasten: The vital impact of parks and recreation in Virginia undeniable

    The Daily Progress (December 29, 2025) In the world of public service, we rely on data to tell us where our communities are headed. The National Recreation and Park Association recently released its 2025 "Engagement with Parks Report," and the results provide a wake-up call for how we should view our local infrastructure. According to the report, 86% of people now factor the proximity of high-quality parks and recreation facilities into their decision of where to live. For Virginia to remain a leader in economic development, we must recognize that our community centers and athletic fields are just as vital as our roads and utilities.

  • Money for public transit could mean big tax policy changes

    Richmond Times-Dispatch (December 27, 2025) Virginia's next governor and General Assembly are looking for a roadmap that leads to more money for the Washington Metro and public transit systems across the state, without draining state and local government budgets or raising the cost of living for Virginians.

  • Virginia built the digital capital of the world. But can it keep up? | Guest column

    Richmond Times-Dispatch (December 26, 2025) Virginia’s rise as the world’s data center capital was not an accident. It was the product of decades of decisions on infrastructure, energy pricing and tax policy — made long before their cumulative impact was fully understood. What began as a technical advantage compounded into a transformation now too large to ignore, reshaping land use, energy policy and local governance before anyone could have foreseen the long-term infrastructure demands of large-scale computing and artificial intelligence.

  • Virginia needs more housing, but what kind and where?

    The Washington Post (December 26, 2025) A new report makes the case that Virginia localities need to relax or drop rules that discourage multi-family housing. Not asked: What kind of housing do people want?

  • Federal funding shifts cloud Virginia’s transportation plans for 2026

    Virginia Mercury (December 26, 2025) Virginia’s transportation system is massive, with about 129,000 lane miles of roads and roughly 5,900 miles of rail criss-crossing the commonwealth, according to the Virginia Department of Transportation and a 2022 Virginia Statewide Rail Plan. There’s always some kind of improvement or expansion underway, leaving drivers and commuters wondering when relief will arrive. But before unpacking what projects Virginians can expect in 2026, federal funding looms as a major factor shaping what moves forward — and what does not.

  • Virginia’s data center tax abatement surges to estimated $1.6 billion in fiscal 2025

    Washington Business Journal (December 24, 2025) Virginia’s data center tax abatement continued its exponential growth in fiscal year 2025. The commonwealth’s retail sales and use tax data center exemption, the main driver behind Virginia’s longstanding data center dominance and by far its most costly incentive, is estimated to have abated $1.6 billion for the fiscal year that ended June 30, according to the state’s recently released Annual Comprehensive Financial Report for fiscal 2025.

  • Spanberger to name energy czar to address power demand, cost

    Richmond Times-Dispatch (December 22, 2025) Gov.-elect Abigail Spanberger is moving energy issues to the top of her agenda by creating a new position within her Cabinet to focus on meeting electricity demand, keeping prices low and maintaining Virginia's commitment to meeting clean energy goals.

  • Demands for Data Center Moratoriums Surge

    Heatmap (December 22, 2025) The major artificial intelligence companies’ prime directive to literally bulldoze AI infrastructure into states with minimal regulation has produced citizen-led, bipartisan demands for local and national moratoriums on data center siting. In Loudoun County, Virginia, which has the largest concentration of data centers in the region that represents the world’s largest data hub, data center expansions have collided with the climate crisis, leading to scrambles from local government to address the “negative impacts on neighborhoods.”

  • AeroFarms says it’s staying open, 3 days after announcing closure

    Cardinal News (December 19, 2025) Indoor farming company AeroFarms, which earlier this week said that it would close its Pittsylvania County facility and lay off all 173 employees, on Friday reversed course and now says the plant will remain open.

  • Gov.-elect Spanberger outlines energy priorities with focus on efficiency, battery storage

    Virginia Mercury (December 19, 2025) Gov.-elect Abigail Spanberger detailed how she plans to work with legislators to make utility bills more affordable, as the cost of electricity continues to rise across the commonwealth. The incoming Democratic governor’s ideas range from bolstering battery storage capacity to reducing power use and the need for expensive transmission lines.

  • Spanberger unveils 17-bill plan to cut Virginia living costs: ‘We cannot accept the status quo’

    WTVR (December 18, 2025) Governor-elect Abigail Spanberger joined Democratic leaders in the General Assembly Thursday to announce a legislative agenda aimed at reducing costs for Virginia families across the healthcare, energy and housing sector.

National

  • Bailey Kasten: The vital impact of parks and recreation in Virginia undeniable

    The Daily Progress (December 29, 2025) In the world of public service, we rely on data to tell us where our communities are headed. The National Recreation and Park Association recently released its 2025 "Engagement with Parks Report," and the results provide a wake-up call for how we should view our local infrastructure. According to the report, 86% of people now factor the proximity of high-quality parks and recreation facilities into their decision of where to live. For Virginia to remain a leader in economic development, we must recognize that our community centers and athletic fields are just as vital as our roads and utilities.

  • What ‘data center alley’ portends for America’s AI-powered future

    The Hill (December 28, 2025) As data centers hurtle to the forefront of the national debate over artificial intelligence (AI) and energy costs, northern Virginia offers a preview of the political fights that will play out in communities across the country seeking to cash in on the booming industry. But the sprawling data centers are also transforming the landscape and gobbling up massive amounts of water and electricity, leading state politicians to grapple with how to regulate and monitor the rapid development — without alienating the powerful interests backing the projects, from tech giants to local leaders and labor unions.

  • Communities Across America Push Back on AI Data Centers

    Slash Gear (December 28, 2025) The AI boom currently underpinning the United States economy has led to a rapid expansion of data centers. As it turns out, a large and growing number of people would prefer not to live alongside gargantuan buildings spewing smoke into the sky, driving away wildlife with constant noise, and increasing their power bills in the process. Now, communities across the country are pushing back.

  • NAACP ‘Stop Dirty Data’ conference probes data center effects

    MSR Multmedia (December 27, 2025) As the construction of data centers expands — with more being built in Black, brown and low-income communities and harming the environments where they’re located — the NAACP hosted a summit Dec. 12-13 with the goal of addressing growing environmental justice concerns and calling for greater transparency from policymakers and technology companies.

  • Data centers fight uphill battle on energy messaging

    E&E News (December 24, 2025) Data centers are facing a significant backlash from the public and some policymakers over their energy usage, but the companies backing the projects may not be doing enough to push back. Technology giants fueling the data center boom like Google, Meta and Amazon have been active in state utility regulatory proceedings and local government fights where they want to build facilities. They’ve also bolstered their Washington lobbying on the issue.

  • After more than 125 years, the Christmas Bird Count is more popular than ever

    The Washington Post (December 24, 2025) On a quiet unpaved road the Saturday before Christmas, John Lowry scanned the skies, ready to jot tallies on a clipboard for his contribution to one of the longest-running citizen-powered data projects in North America. Every year, the Audubon Society’s Christmas Bird Count draws tens of thousands of birders (and sometimes “SOBs” and “FOBs” — spouses and friends of birders) for the 126-year-old event that blends birding and data science.

  • In Fraught US Energy Fights, ‘All of the Above’ Is Now Democrats’ Pitch

    Bloomberg (December 23, 2025) “No matter what DC tries to dictate,” he raged at this intervention to withdraw government support, “we’ll continue to pursue an all-of-the above” strategy. These type of demands for inclusive energy policies became widespread during President Joe Biden’s term, when Republican politicians and their oil industry backers routinely castigated Democrats for restricting fossil fuels while subsidizing low-carbon technologies. On this view, it’s the role of markets — not the government — to determine how Americans fuel their cars and power their homes.

  • Don’t solve the power reliability crisis by creating an affordability crisis

    Dispatches (December 22, 2025) At an October meeting of the North American Electric Reliability Corporation, the authority on grid reliability in the United States and Canada, the agency’s president and CEO declared that the United States is facing “a five-alarm fire” when it comes to providing reliable electricity. This was due, he explained, to an “escalating toxic soup” of causes.

  • Feds Pave the Way for Data Centers To Plug Right Into Power Plants

    The Intelligencer (December 19, 2025) Federal regulators will allow tech companies to effectively plug massive data centers directly into power plants, issuing a long-awaited order Thursday, as the Trump administration urges it to help the U.S. lead the world in artificial intelligence and revive domestic manufacturing. It also comes amid concerns that the mid-Atlantic territory covering some 65 million people will face electricity shortages in the coming years, as the build out of data centers outpaces the speed of new power sources coming online.

  • Trump’s AI executive order won’t slow the surge of state data center laws

    Latitude Media (December 17, 2025) As data center construction grows at a staggering pace, so too does a state-level push to compete for the sector’s business — and shield customers from higher energy costs. State legislatures introduced nearly 200 bills targeted at data centers this year. “Through the breadth of bills we can see that state lawmakers are openly grappling with fundamental questions: How do we balance economic growth with grid stability, protect ratepayers while accommodating unprecedented energy demand, and ensure transparency around environmental impacts?”

  • Michigan Lawmakers Introduce Bill to Repeal Data Center Tax Incentives

    Inside Climate News (December 16, 2025) The tax breaks, passed in late 2024, have produced both a flurry of data center projects and surging opposition across the political spectrum as communities fear skyrocketing electric and water bills, pollution and hulking complexes on former farmland.

Global

  • UK’s largest proposed datacentre ‘understating planned water use’

    The Guardian (December 19, 2025) The UK’s largest proposed datacentre is understating the scale of its planned water use, according to an analysis. The first phase of construction for the hyperscale campus in Cambois in Northumberland has been given the go-ahead by the local council. The US operator QTS, which is developing the site, has promoted its “water-free” cooling system as proof of its sustainability. But research published this week calls that claim into question.

  • Dark Skies, Better Health

    The Crozet Gazette (December 5, 2025) The northern lights (aurora borealis). The southern lights (aurora australis). Shooting stars. Dark Sky tourism is gaining popularity as light pollution has increased globally. People travel to dark places to experience the magic of the night sky. Gazing up at the Milky Way glowing across a dark sky is breathtaking. Darkness is not inherently bad or dangerous. Darkness can be beautiful, restful, inspiring and healthy, an antidote to our overlit and overstimulating environments.

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