This text was taken from an email alert sent out on February 11, 2026. Sign up for email alerts ➝
Dear Supporter,
For the first time in Fauquier County, a data center developer has applied for approval of an onsite primary power production plant.
Remington Technology Park LP (RTP) has filed a rezoning amendment application with an updated site plan that includes 13 gas turbines, a natural gas gate station and an electrical substation.
If approved, communities in Remington will be in close proximity to three fossil fuel power plants. Unlike the two existing power plants that provide power to the electrical grid in the region, this proposed gas plant will service the data center alone. And, this proposed plant would be right next to the Meadows of Remington residential neighborhood.
Not only can the use of these turbines create continuous disruptive noise, but the burning of fossil fuels to generate power — no matter the fuel source or type of combustion engine — results in emissions that can both exacerbate and cause major respiratory and cardiovascular illness. (See more detail on the health impacts of these facilities below.)
The Planning Commission will meet on Thursday, Feb. 19 to consider the proposal. We need your help to sound the alarm with the Commission by submitting your comments before the meeting
Make your voice heard! Submit comments before the Planning Commission meeting on Feb. 19
What: Planning Commission Work Session – Review of RTP Gas Plant Proposal
(You may attend, but no public comments will be heard)
When: Thursday, Feb. 19, 9:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
Where: Warren Green Building – Board of Supervisors’ Meeting Room, 10 Hotel Street, 1st Floor – Large Meeting Room, Warrenton
How did we get here?
Decades ago, the Remington Technology Park site was zoned for residential development. In 2018, the majority of the land was re-zoned so that a data center could be permitted.
RTP developers have since learned that Dominion Energy will not be able to provide power for their data center until 2030 at the earliest. As a result, they are seeking an alternate power source to get their data center online faster.
This new site plan and power proposal from RTP feels like a bait and switch. Instead of asking for industrial zoning and initiating a new Special Exception Permit process, the applicant is seeking to add the power plant as an Accessory Use to the original data center use.
The crux of the matter is that the county has approved a data center – not a power plant. A power plant is not a small or accessory addition to a list of acceptable uses and Remington Technology Park shouldn’t be allowed to use the same application for an entirely different purpose.
In a letter to the applicant, with copies provided to both the Planning Commission and the Board of Supervisors, PEC asked questions to help discern the impact of this power generation plant on the local community and all of Fauquier County.
Although the applicant has filed with Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) for an air permit, the applicant has failed to respond to our questions. In fact, it has attempted to prevent the public from accessing its original permit application, which would include most, if not all, of the technical specifications we seek.
The applicant has requested what is known as an “Article 6 Minor NSR – No Public Interest” air permit. In essence, this type of permit could be appropriate for a data center asking to use generators only for back-up power. However, in this case, where the applicant is seeking to use the plant for primary power production, a permit application process with an opportunity for public input and additional scrutiny of cumulative impacts should be expected.
Another industrial-scale power plant would pose serious health risks to residents – living both nearby and farther away.
The cumulative health risks of this additional gas plant located so close to homes are alarming. Gas power generation sites release pollutants like nitrogen oxide and nitrogen dioxide (NOx), volatile organic compounds (VOCs), particulate matter (PM2.5, PM10), sulfur dioxide (SO2), and carbon monoxide (CO) into the air – which will significantly impact the air quality for people living in neighborhoods nearby, as well as those living miles away.
NOx and SO2 cause smog, acid rain and ozone depletion. PM2.5 particulates are so small that they can penetrate deep into the lungs and the bloodstream, triggering inflammation throughout the body, and can lead to increased rates of respiratory and cardiovascular disease. They can also exacerbate existing heart and lung conditions, leading to increased risk of heart attack and stroke. There is truly no known safe exposure to PM2.5.
A recently-published study by the Dominici Lab at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health presents the widespread public health impact and resulting economic damage from significant PM2.5 emissions exposure. It also clearly shows the distance air pollution can travel and the likelihood that communities throughout Fauquier will experience the effects of these emissions.
Estimated emissions of at least two major pollutants from this proposed power plant could exceed that of the other two nearby gas plants! The impacts get even worse when looking at the cumulative effects of emissions in close proximity to one another. Without the specific information on the turbines that we have requested, we can only estimate the total impact of all three power generation plants. However, we know that Remington Technology Park will need to produce its own power for years to come. During that same timeframe, we also anticipate that the two existing gas plants could be called on to provide full-time power to the grid. This would result in three full-time power plants in close proximity to each other and to the residents of Remington and Bealeton.
It is imperative that Remington and Fauquier County residents know the scope and extent of the power production plant being proposed here before the county makes a decision on the permit application. Only through having the answers to our questions and those of many other stakeholders may elected officials be prepared to make the right decisions regarding this application.
Opportunities to weigh in
If you are concerned about the impacts of this proposed Remington Technology Park gas plant, we encourage you to make your concerns known before the Feb. 19 Planning Commission Work Session!
4 things you can do:
- Contact your district Planning Commissioner. (Member information here. Send comments to [email protected])
- Contact your district Supervisor (Click here for a list of Supervisor email addresses)
- Speak at the Thursday, Feb 19 evening public hearing of the Planning Commission. (Arrive early to speak in-person. Comments will be limited to 3 minutes. Learn more.)
- Speak at Citizen’s Time of the Board of Supervisors evening public hearing on Thursday, Feb. 12. (Agenda can be found here. Advance notice is not required, but you can email the Board no later than 12 p.m. the day of the hearing. Otherwise, arrive before the start of the hearing and sign the speaker sheet near the entrance. Click here for instructions on participating. Comments will be limited to 3 minutes.)
Noise emissions and water usage are also a concern that needs more attention.
We are very concerned about the noise emissions from gas turbines, which, depending on the design, can compare to the noise from jet engines running on an airport tarmac.
We also have serious questions about the amount of water required to cool gas turbines, where it comes from, and where it will be discharged. Preliminary information shows that one of the two existing gas power plants in Remington used 7.6 million gallons of treated water in 2025. Keep in mind, that plant is not a full-time producer of power. It runs as a “peaker plant,” meaning on-demand.
Lastly, the idea of data centers “bringing their own power” to expedite the process so they can be brought online and become revenue-generating more quickly is one that we are increasingly seeing. Our electrical grid has been stressed by unprecedented demand. This gas plant is just a bridge solution until Remington Technology Park can be connected to the grid, so allowing this will not only bring a future of dramatic increases in local power generation via fossil fuels to serve data center customers in the short-term, but over the long-term, it will still bring more transmission lines and substations to the area to serve those very same data centers.
There’s more, and we’ll cover these issues in the days to come.
Thank you for your continued support and engagement on important community issues. Please let me know if there are other topics you’d like to see included in future updates, and feel free to contact me with any questions.
And if you know anyone who would like to receive these email updates on data center, gas plant and other land use issues in Fauquier County, please forward this email to them and let them know they can sign up for updates here.
If you are able, we greatly appreciate donations in any amount, which help us continue to do this important work and have a positive impact in the community. We would also love for you to become a PEC member, if you aren’t already!
Sincerely,
Evelyn Eichorn
Senior Land Use Field Representative
Fauquier County
[email protected]
(540) 347-2334 ext. 7045
P.S. This just in: Sierra Club & Physicians for Social Responsibility will be hosting a livestream event on Wednesday, Feb. 18 at 7 p.m. ET: “Fueling Sickness: The Hidden Health Costs of Fossil Fuel Pollution.”