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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Snowy mountain in Rappahannock County. |
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WTOP News
(February 13, 2026)
D.C. Water says new high-capacity bypass pumps are expected to arrive Friday at the site of last month’s sewer pipe break that has poured millions of gallons of raw sewage into the Potomac River.
Learn more about the issue and what you can do about it via our partners at The Potomac Conservancy.
VCU News
(February 12, 2026)
...backup generators that occasionally power those data centers also threaten local air quality, according to new Virginia Commonwealth University research, and in some cases even exceed emissions from nearby power plants.
WRIC
(February 12, 2026)
Several bills aimed at reforming Virginia’s rapidly growing data center industry are failing to advance in the General Assembly.
Features an interview with Chris Miller, President of The Piedmont Environmental Council. If you haven't already, please use our advocacy form to send a letter to your delegate and senator and ask them to support data center reform legislation. Write Your Legislators >>
Loudoun Now
(February 12, 2026)
Legislation aimed at supporting agrivoltaics—the process of combining farming with solar energy generation—is advancing through the General Assembly.
This article quotes PEC senior energy & climate advisor Ashish Kapoor and references PEC's agrivoltaics project at our community farm.
WMRA
(February 5, 2026)
A project to protect more than 5,000 acres of forested mountain land adjacent to the Shenandoah National Park has secured conservation easements on two properties, with three more in the works. WMRA's Randi B. Hagi reports.
he Shenandoah Borderlands Project is a joint effort between the Virginia Department of Forestry, the Piedmont Environmental Council, the USDA Forest Service, and private landowners.
VCU News
(February 12, 2026)
Northern Virginia has the highest concentration of data centers in the world, and residents and environmentalists throughout the state have criticized the land use impacts and energy usage of the massive server farms. But the backup generators that occasionally power those data centers also threaten local air quality, according to new Virginia Commonwealth University research, and in some cases even exceed emissions from nearby power plants.
PoPville Prince of Petworth
(February 10, 2026)
A significant overflow occurred overnight after pump capacity dropped during a high-flow period. An earlier, smaller overflow was contained. New pumps may arrive this week to help stabilize operations. Water quality sampling continues.
Charlottesville Tomorrow
(February 10, 2026)
Tenaska, a Nebraska-based energy company, has filed a formal appeal of the Fluvanna Planning Commission’s vote in January that the company’s proposal for a second power plant does not align with the county’s comprehensive plan. Now it’s up to the Fluvanna County Board of Supervisors (BOS) to decide the fate of the project.
Charlottesville Tomorrow
(February 12, 2026)
On Monday, Feb. 2, Charlottesville City Council voted to help close a crucial funding gap for the 501 Cherry Ave. project, allowing the unique mixed-use development to move ahead.
Information Charlottesville
(February 12, 2026)
The government organization that provides transportation planning services will try yet again to obtain federal funding to move forward with a pedestrian bridge across the Rivanna River between a portion of the Pantops area and the Wool Factory.
C-VILLE Weekly
(February 11, 2026)
When the City of Charlottesville agreed to fund Piedmont Housing Alliance’s redevelopment of Friendship Court into Kindlewood, the nonprofit developer was responsible for building a minimum of 425 units.
Information Charlottesville
(February 11, 2026)
2026 will mark the first full year of operations for the Charlottesville-Albemarle Regional Transit Authority, a body created to fulfil one of the recommendations of a recent governance study.
Charlottesville Community Engagement
(February 8, 2026)
One purpose of the Charlottesville Community Engagement newsletter is to document conversations about where people are going to live in the future.
C-VILLE Weekly
(February 6, 2026)
The housing chapter of Albemarle’s new Comprehensive Plan states that the county needs 10,000 new homes by 2040 to keep up with anticipated population increases. The exact number that gets built will depend on elected officials approving rezonings following a public process that allows members of the public to weigh in.
The Crozet Gazette
(February 6, 2026)
The Crozet Park Board of Directors has re-energized its push to build a new aquatics and fitness facility in the park, and an update to the long-planned expansion project was presented at the January 6 Crozet Community Association (CCA) meeting.
The Crozet Gazette
(February 6, 2026)
Crozet’s perennially hoped-for Eastern Avenue bridge/connector road is still in the county’s sights, but has evolved into a “design-build” project in order to save time and money, according to county procurement officials.
The Winchester Star
(February 9, 2026)
Virginia Department of Transportation engineers want Clarke County officials to support their recommendations for safety improvements along Va. 7 (Harry Byrd Highway), even if the public doesn't.
Culpeper Star-Exponent
(February 12, 2026)
A downtown business entrepreneur with a background in presidential history has been recruited as the first volunteer coordinator of Battlefields State Park.
The Rapidan Register
(February 12, 2026)
The Piedmont Environmental Council (PEC) will host a meeting next week to discuss a proposed historic district which encompasses portions of Culpeper, Madison and orange counties.
Learn more about the proposed Rapidan River - Clark Mountan Rural Historic District at PEC's community meeting on Thursday, Feb. 19 from 6–8 p.m. at the Emmanuel Episcopal Church in Rapidan. Space is limited. Please register online >>
Loudoun Times-Mirror
(February 12, 2026)
An application to rezone 117 acres from the Joint Land Management Area-3 to the Planned Development – Industrial Park zoning district was approved by the Loudoun County Planning Commission by a vote of 6-2-1 on Feb. 12.
Loudoun Times-Mirror
(February 12, 2026)
The wind was from the north, which means Lindsay Shaw and Bob Salehi’s neighborhood was quiet, save for the chirping of birds. As they walked around to the downwind side of the facility, a humming whine filled the air. This is the noise they hear with a south wind, they said. Sometimes, the sound is joined by noise and smoke from the facility's backup diesel generators.
CBS News
(February 11, 2026)
Greg Pirio bought his home in the northern Virginia suburbs more than a dozen years ago, never imagining a massive data center would be his neighbor. It's one of around 200 such facilities in Loudoun County, considered the data center capital of the world.
Loudoun Times-Mirror
(February 11, 2026)
The Leesburg Town Council has ruled out an idea to convert Market and Loudoun streets to one-way traffic through downtown, but is weighing one-way options for Liberty Street SW and Wirt Street SW.
Loudoun Times-Mirror
(February 10, 2026)
The Loudoun Food Provider Group recently met with Loudoun County’s community partners to coordinate a countywide response to rising food insecurity, according to a news release.
The Piedmont Environmental Council partners with Loudoun Hunger Relief to grow and donate the food grown at our Community Farm at Roundabout Meadows in Aldie to food pantries in Loudoun and Clarke counties.
Blue Ridge Leader
(February 8, 2026)
During its Feb. 3, meeting, the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors approved guidelines that provide consistent best practices for the removal and long-term control of invasive plant species on county-managed lands (PDF).
The Rapidan Register
(February 12, 2026)
The Piedmont Environmental Council (PEC) will host a meeting next week to discuss a proposed historic district which encompasses portions of Culpeper, Madison and orange counties.
Learn more about the proposed Rapidan River - Clark Mountan Rural Historic District at PEC's community meeting on Thursday, Feb. 19 from 6–8 p.m. at the Emmanuel Episcopal Church in Rapidan. Space is limited. Please register online >>
The Rapidan Register
(February 12, 2026)
The Orange Town Council will hold a public hearing next week regarding recommended changes that would require potential data center projects to undergo a special use permit (SUP) application process.
The Rapidan Register
(February 12, 2026)
The Piedmont Environmental Council (PEC) will host a meeting next week to discuss a proposed historic district which encompasses portions of Culpeper, Madison and orange counties.
Learn more about the proposed Rapidan River - Clark Mountan Rural Historic District at PEC's community meeting on Thursday, Feb. 19 from 6–8 p.m. at the Emmanuel Episcopal Church in Rapidan. Space is limited. Please register online >>
The Daily Progress
(February 11, 2026)
An electrical failure at a Lake of the Woods pump station Wednesday morning has put the Orange County gated subdivision's Main Lake at risk of sewage contamination. People and pets are urged not to go near the water at the Small Marina Cove until further notice.
Politico
(February 13, 2026)
The story of Prince William County foreshadows what could happen in communities across the country as the data center industry balloons beyond its historic hubs in Northern Virginia and Silicon Valley. It’s one example of how local politics, so far, is struggling to bring to heel an industry that is impacting residents’ health and peace of mind.
Northern Virginia Magazine
(February 12, 2026)
Prince William County recently launched a countywide interactive data centers map. The map allows residents, county staff, and other stakeholders to easily track these projects at various stages of development. For example, it shows if a data center proposal is pending land-use applications or if the project is under construction. It also shows the location of completed facilities.
Potomac Local News
(February 11, 2026)
The Manassas City Council voted unanimously to approve the first reading of Ordinance O-2026-455, a zoning text amendment that establishes new development standards for data centers and other large-scale industrial projects in the city’s I-1 light industrial and I-2 heavy industrial zoning districts.
Politico
(February 11, 2026)
States and feds aren’t doing much to affect data center growth. Residents here in one Virginia county are trying to push back — but running into some big obstacles.
Bay Journal
(February 11, 2026)
Before Maryland lawmakers opened the 2026 legislative session in January, the state’s land conservation programs were already facing a $75 million shortfall over the next three years.
Bay Journal
(February 9, 2026)
The Rappahannock Tribe in Virginia filed an appeal Jan. 21 over a permit that would allow Caroline County to withdraw millions of gallons of water per day from the Rappahannock River. The state has until late February to rule on the appeal.
Virginia Mercury
(February 13, 2026)
The debate over the oily forage fish menhaden is not over in the General Assembly, as one bill advanced Thursday that would create catch quota periods for the only reduction fishery allowed in the Chesapeake Bay.
Culpeper Star-Exponent
(February 13, 2026)
The Virginia Wood Council is bringing together stakeholders to help find solutions for forest markets struggling with emerging challenges. “The plan is to understand all the emerging forest product industry issues, and figure out what’s causing them,” explained Sabina Dhungana, Virginia Department of Forestry utilization and marketing program manager.
Culpeper Star-Exponent
(February 13, 2026)
Lawmakers will vote on a House bill to extend minimum wage requirements to farm workers in the state, an effort that has been vetoed twice since 2024.
Richmond Times-Dispatch
(February 13, 2026)
The electricity-hungry facilities already force Dominion to buy costly out-of-state power to meet their current demand on top of the rest of its more than 2.7 million customers. But over the past year, the amount of electricity they’re asking Dominion to provide has jumped by 75%, reaching nearly 70,000 megawatts. That’s enough electricity to power 17.5 million homes.
WFXR
(February 12, 2026)
The Commonwealth was granted with over $22 million towards statewide conservation efforts, the Chesapeake Bay Program and US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) says. The grant’s objective is to help improve water quality, restore habitats, and uphold community stewardship efforts in Virginia’s section of the Chesapeake Bay watershed.
Virginia Mercury
(February 12, 2026)
Proponents push for stricter regulations on fertilizer laced with “forever chemicals” as opponents say bill’s proposed standards would pose problems for agriculture, wastewater treatment industries.
Richmond Times-Dispatch
(February 12, 2026)
The House Finance Committee voted 16-5 to approve House Bill 897, proposed by Del. Rip Sullivan, D-Fairfax, to place new conditions on a state sales tax exemption that provided a nearly $2 billion tax benefit to data centers over the past two years...
Richmond Times-Dispatch
(February 12, 2026)
The revised and rejected bills all aimed to address concern about the pollution that diesel generators emit, especially when data centers install hundreds of them, along with water use that McAuliff said is a major concern in Loudoun County, where 800 wells have run dry in recent years and where there are hundreds of data centers that need water to cool their servers and other electronic devices.
Virginia Business
(February 11, 2026)
A House Labor and Commerce subcommittee recommended continuing until next session a measure to have data centers pay for associated infrastructure and energy costs, instead of passing them onto residential customers. Del. John McAuliff, D-Fauquier, introduced House Bill 503 to prohibit utility companies from passing energy costs onto households.
Richmond Times-Dispatch
(February 11, 2026)
House of Delegates gatekeepers killed a bill that said new data centers would need a permit from state regulators in order to plug into Virginia’s electric grid.
Politico
(February 11, 2026)
States and feds aren’t doing much to affect data center growth. Residents here in one Virginia county are trying to push back — but running into some big obstacles.
WSLS
(February 10, 2026)
Google’s planned data center campus in Botetourt County, Virginia, could consume up to 8 million gallons of water daily, raising concerns about resource management and infrastructure costs in this rural community.
Loudoun Now
(February 10, 2026)
Legislation proposed by Sen. Kannan Srinivasan (D-32) aimed at building high-voltage transmission lines underground cleared a hurdle Monday night after receiving approval from the Senate Commerce and Labor Committee.
WVTF
(February 10, 2026)
Experts warn that this state could be home to nearly 1,300 data centers in the years to come, and many will be backed up by diesel-burning generators. At Virginia Commonwealth University, Professor Damian Pitt has looked at the potential impact on air quality, and he’s concerned.
WTVR
(February 10, 2026)
Members of the Virginia Data Center Reform Coalition met with legislators, advocating for oversight of projects they argue are straining the power grid, wasting water, and harming air quality. Several reform bills are currently making their way through the General Assembly.
PEC co-leads the Virginia Data Center Reform Coalition.
Virginia Mercury
(February 10, 2026)
Sen. L. Louise Lucas, D-Portsmouth, on Monday introduced an amendment to her Senate Bill 253, which would levy more energy costs onto data centers served by Dominion Energy and less on residential customers, a move the utility, state regulators and lawmakers say would immediately drop residential bills by about $5.50 per month.
Virginia Mercury
(February 9, 2026)
The use of the controversial herbicide paraquat has been banned in 70 nations across the world, including in China where it is manufactured, but is used widely in Virginia. A bill that would make the commonwealth the first state to implement a total ban on the use and sale of the chemical cleared a House of Delegates committee Wednesday.
Cardinal News
(February 9, 2026)
That means localities that want to attract data centers can be more aggressive in making demands, the authors say, and they lay out some of the things that localities ought to start asking for. Specifically, they should be asking for data center contributions that don’t just cover a one-time community need but can help jump-start an entirely new economic cluster.
CVILLE Right Now
(February 9, 2026)
As localities across Virginia await what will come out of the General Assembly in regard to data center and energy policies, some 200 people from across the Commonwealth gathered at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church across from Capitol Square for the Virginia Data Center Reform Coalition’s Lobby Day on Monday.
Article quotes Senior Land Use Field Representative, Rob McGinnis.
Fauquier Now
(February 9, 2026)
As temperatures drop and natural food sources become scarce, Virginia wildlife officials are urging the public to remain "Bearwise" this winter.
VPM
(February 9, 2026)
A controversial electrical-line project aimed in part to power future data centers in western Chesterfield County has been green-lit by the State Corporation Commission, documents show.“ A lot of people don't want to live near high-voltage lines, and it's mainly because [of] the risk for any health-averse effects, especially towards children,” said Danielle Roach, a resident who lives about 800 feet from where the lines are slated to be built.
The Crozet Gazette
(February 6, 2026)
Dave Saylor, a master naturalist and one of the authors of The Claudius Project, said Virginia is home to a remarkable diversity of fungi—about 2,700 wild mushroom species —many of which can be found in Central Virginia.
Forbes
(February 12, 2026)
The AI era is arriving as a construction program. Across the United States, data centers are scaling fast enough to reshape regional electricity forecasts, while local officials and residents ask a more basic question. What does “digital infrastructure” cost the places that host it?
Virginia Mercury
(February 12, 2026)
President Donald Trump and his top environmental policy officer finalized a move Thursday to undo an Environmental Protection Agency regulation that laid the foundation for federal rules governing emissions of the greenhouse gases that cause climate change.
CBS News
(February 11, 2026)
Greg Pirio bought his home in the northern Virginia suburbs more than a dozen years ago, never imagining a massive data center would be his neighbor.
Politico
(February 9, 2026)
The Trump administration wants some of the world’s largest technology companies to publicly commit to a new compact governing the rapid expansion of AI data centers, according to two administration officials granted anonymity to discuss private conversations.
Heatmap
(February 6, 2026)
It’s a good time to be selling stuff to data center developers. That was the message from the beginning of earnings season for the renewables and the energy industry: If you can promise power to data centers quickly, you’re doing good business.
News From The States
(February 5, 2026)
For years, many states competed aggressively to land data centers, sprawling campuses full of the computer servers that store and transmit the data behind apps and websites. But many officials are now scrutinizing how those power-hungry projects might affect the electric bills of households, small businesses and other industries.
CNN
(February 4, 2026)
More than data centers are driving up the cost of your electric bill. CNN’s Madeline Marshall explains how different economic forces are converging to hike up your bill, and what can be done about it.
NBC News
(February 3, 2026)
In his annual budget address, Shapiro will introduce what he’s calling the “Governor’s Responsible Infrastructure Development” Standards — a set of criteria for data center developers to qualify for resources the state can provide to encourage and hasten their construction. He will also call for the divided Legislature to codify them into law.
Wired Italia
(February 12, 2026)
These indispensable facilities, yet energy- and water-hungry, put pressure on local areas and infrastructure. In this documentary by journalist Francesca Forcella, we delve into some of the most well-known facilities, both in the United States and Italy.
PEC president Chris Miller was interviewed for this piece. B-roll footage from PEC multimedia communications specialist Hugh Kenny was also used.
