Dustin always wanted to carry on the tradition as the fourth-generation family member to own the farm. His great-grandfather bought the farm in 1939, and it had passed down to his grandfather.
Maps & Resources
Clouds of Data and Pollution: Gas Plants at Data Centers Threaten Public Health
“It was unlike anything I’ve ever seen before,” said Hugh Kenny about his first time visiting the Vantage VA2 data center in Sterling, Virginia.
Troubles with Transmission
“This farm has been in our family for over 100 years. This powerline would destroy so much of what we’ve built here.”
Piedmont Memorial Overlook: the view that inspired a lifelong commitment
A flash of blue soared over my car windshield. What kind of bird creates a vivid cerulean streak? Was that an Eastern bluebird? Or was it an indigo bunting, the eponymous bird I later heard chattering in the treetops?
How to save energy this summer
With energy costs in Virginia rising faster than anywhere else in the country thanks to rapid data center buildout, it’s more impactful than ever this summer to reduce your home’s energy use — and, in turn, your electric bill.
2026 General Assembly Takeaways
The dust has finally settled in Richmond, and those of us who love the Piedmont have a lot to celebrate. With the 2026 General Assembly session (mostly) behind us, it’s clear that the collective voice of the Piedmont is being heard.
Who’s Protecting the Piedmont?
The beauty of the Piedmont endures thanks to the intentional planning and careful work of many dedicated people and organizations. Here, we highlight three individuals protecting the region in a variety of ways.
Meet the Team: Community Farm
The Piedmont Environmental Council’s Community Farm at Roundabout Meadows in Aldie is a remarkable place punching way above its weight class in community impact. The 8-acre farm, part of the larger 172-acre Roundabout Meadows property owned by PEC, epitomizes PEC’s mission. It serves as a demonstration site for our innovative agrivoltaics project, supports hands-on education about local agriculture through its ever-growing volunteer program, and donates nearly all of the produce it grows to hunger relief organizations serving Loudoun, Fauquier and Clarke county residents. In 2025, the Community Farm grew and donated over 57,700 pounds of fresh produce, its largest annual yield yet. Since its first growing season in 2019, PEC has donated over 240,000 pounds of food, worth a collective retail value of over $1.1 million.
None of this would be possible without PEC’s dedicated farm team, which consists of Gilberts Corner Program Manager Dana Melby, Community Farm Manager Teddy Pitsiokos, Community Farm Assistant Manager Catherine Fisher, Gilberts Corner Farmers Market Manager Jen Wilkins and Volunteer Coordinator Lea Justice, as well as two seasonal growers. With decades of combined experience in agriculture and farm management, it’s no wonder they can perform such incredible feats and build on their successes year over year. Dana emphasizes that “the strength of the harmonious team makes work on the farm joyful” and helps this small group work with a variety of people including volunteers, visitors interested in PEC’s conservation and agrivoltaics work, contractors, and their growing number of hunger relief partners.
Farm activities run the gamut, and staff need to be masters of all trades, from agriculture to land conservation to solar solutions to volunteer engagement. “I think most people don’t know how multidisciplinary farm work can be,” Teddy says. “While the work is intensely physical, I am also using math, geometry, biology, chemistry and systems design every day.” Teddy and Catherine monitor all the produce they plant and grow across the farm, and collect and codify data to track the impact they’re making, while also finding ways to improve their processes and produce. Soil testing, pest control, growth assessments, and weighing produce are all critical components to the farm’s work.
Testing and data collection are of particular interest for the farm’s quarter-acre that holds PEC’s agrivoltaics demonstration project, where beds of vegetables, both in-ground and in raised beds, grow under three rows of 42 solar panels. The power produced by the array offsets all the Community Farm’s electrical usage and includes battery storage to backup critical systems like the well pump, cold storage and greenhouse in the event of a grid outage. This project is an educational tool, which means collecting and sharing data about crop growth with PEC’s networks, as well as evaluating agrivoltaics as an energy solution for small farms and low-income communities across Virginia and beyond.
While the growing season runs from April to October, work on the farm is active all year round. Catherine notes that “farming is complex and requires careful decision-making, both in the moment and in the dead of winter when outcomes are months away.” To add to that complexity and joyful work, Catherine says that “every farm season engages different people, and this year we’ve added new food pantry partners and planned collaborations with many new organizations. First-time volunteers from April are becoming regulars, and our farm team has grown to include seasonal growers and PEC’s wonderful volunteer coordinator.”
The volunteer program at the farm highlights local agriculture while educating people about sustainable farming practices. Volunteers are invited to participate in every aspect of the farming process — from seeding and transplanting to weeding and harvesting.
In 2025, the farm staff welcomed 802 volunteers to support their work, a 140% increase from 2024. “I love the conversations held with volunteers as we work together in the fields,” says Lea. “The shared work is a great icebreaker; we already have something in common. People come to volunteer at the farm from all walks of life and for diverse reasons. Hearing their stories is always fascinating and renews my belief that we as an organization are the sum of our parts, including all these volunteers, and are stronger for it.”
The farm’s work extends into the Gilberts Corner Farmers Market on the weekends, all year round, welcoming local vendors selling everything from French pastries, locally famous barbecue, kettle corn, ice cream, fresh produce and meat, and more. Gilberts Corner Farmers Market Manager Jen Wilkins manages the market and works to enhance its history and legacy as a place to find local food and fiber. And with food insecurity on the rise in the region, the market now accepts SNAP benefits, providing essential access to locally-grown, nutrient-rich foods.
The Community Farm, Gilberts Corner and Roundabout Meadows as a whole offer many opportunities to connect the over two million nearby residents with the Piedmont’s open spaces. Whether people volunteer, visit and learn about agrivoltaics, shop at the Farmers Market, or receive donated food, we empower each other to build stronger, more sustainable food systems and protect our vital agricultural culture and resources. The farm may be small, but its work has mighty ripple effects throughout our nine-county region and beyond.
This article appeared in the 2026 summer edition of The Piedmont Environmental Council’s member newsletter, The Piedmont View. If you’d like to become a PEC member or renew your membership, please visit pecva.org/join.
On the Ground Updates – June 2026
Albemarle & Charlottesville
- Over the next three years, Albemarle County will implement the AC44 Comprehensive Plan focusing on four major initiatives:
- The Zoning Modernization project is a comprehensive update to the 40-year-old zoning ordinance to make regulations clearer, more consistent and better aligned with the community’s vision for the future.
- Activity Centers in the county’s Development Areas will identify locations for higher-density development and redevelopment.
- A multimodal transportation planning effort will prioritize completion of the current list of transportation projects and develop the county’s first Multimodal Transportation Plan.
- Shorter-term priorities for the Rural Area include: allowing updated uses in existing non-residential structures; considering permitting restaurants, weddings, and other events and agricultural operations; and continued work on allowing craft artisan uses. In the longer-term, a detailed analysis will identify areas of terrestrial and aquatic biodiversity, active agricultural lands, and historical and archaeological resources, as well as drinking watersheds and entrance corridor buffers — all of which will lay the foundation for the county’s first Rural Area Plan.
The implementation of the AC44 Comprehensive Plan is one of PEC’s highest priorities in Albemarle. PEC will be actively engaging community members, supervisors, planning commissioners, county staff and allied organizations to ensure that these initiatives use best practices and comply with the Comprehensive Plan.
Clarke
- County staff have completed the public input meetings on the newly drafted Rural Lands Plan, which includes the county’s historic villages. The draft will come to the Planning Commission for a public hearing over the summer, then move on to the Board of Supervisors for adoption.
- After posting potential routes for the 765-kilovolt Joshua Falls-Yeat transmission line, carrying power from West Virginia to Maryland, Dominion Energy is holding public meetings for impacted counties in June and July. PEC is monitoring to see if this line impacts Clarke County and will share public meeting information and other opportunities for people to make their voices heard.
Culpeper
- Strata Energy has withdrawn its application for Maroon Solar, a large, utility-scale solar installation on Raccoon Ford Road in southern Culpeper County, after the Planning Commission recommended denial. This marks the fourth time the project has failed to obtain a conditional use permit. PEC opposed the project because of Strata Energy’s history of erosion and sediment violations and the potential presence of rare plants on the site. Strata Energy plans to make a fifth application in the future.
- Several of Culpeper’s data centers are now under construction, including Databank at the corner of state Route 3 and U.S. Route 29. The Culpeper Technology Campus and Copper Ridge, both STACK Infrastructure-owned campuses between McDevitt Drive and East Chandler Avenue, are expected to break ground this summer. If you are being impacted by the construction, you can find contact information for your town and county elected officials on our website: pecva.org/culpeper
- The Culpeper Citizen Information Network is hosting a free lecture series about zoning and development. The series is designed to inform residents how zoning ordinances, the comprehensive plan and citizen input all play a role in land use decisions by the county. The next lecture is tentatively scheduled for July 16 in Jeffersonton.
Fauquier
- Remington Tech Park developers have changed their plan for on-site power generation from natural gas turbines to natural gas fuel cells. From both noise and air emissions perspectives, PEC sees this as a positive change and will continue to advocate for the health, safety and welfare of Fauquier residents.
- Williams Co., developer of the Power Express Quantico Lateral gas pipeline, have asked some landowners in the Catlett area to allow property surveys. Neither the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the State Corporation Commission, nor Fauquier County have received an application for this pipeline project. PEC is working with partners to identify the prospective route and understand all potential impacts.
- Dominion Energy acquired 85 acres adjoining its Morrisville substation, positioning the site for a possible major expansion, separate substation, or battery energy storage system. PEC and partners are closely monitoring all activity related to this substation site and its surrounds.
- Fauquier Forward, a 501(c)(3) whose mission is to “build a county that works better for everyone,” is deepening community divisions by pitting protected lands and zoning restrictions against the tax-revenue potential of commercial and industrial development. PEC and partners are demanding transparency around this organization’s actual mission, which we believe to be advocacy for new data center development.
- The Town of Remington invited area residents to an Open House to learn about its Comprehensive Plan, the committee leading its review and revision, and ways to take part in the process. PEC continues to work with other members of the Comprehensive Plan Committee via biweekly public meetings through 2026 and early 2027.
Greene
- The county has started work on an updated Comprehensive Plan scheduled to be adopted in 2028. As part of the update process, PEC will be advocating for rural protections — including action items to explore a purchase of development rights program and a riparian buffer protection program. The county is also in the process of preparing a flood resilience plan.
- PEC is following the economic development work associated with the U.S. Route 29 corridor in Greene and will continue to engage Greene regarding potential impacts of future development.
Loudoun
- During its June business meeting, the Board of Supervisors discussed a version of proactive zoning enforcement that is part of the Western Loudoun Rural Standards and Uses Zoning Ordinance Amendment process. The board also discussed a county-led inventory of existing rural business uses to confirm that filings in the county system are consistent with the current use and that all appropriate health and safety permits are in place.
- Hosted by the Loudoun County Preservation and Conservation Coalition in partnership with PEC, Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy, Save Rural Loudoun and Loudoun’s Future, community groundwater meetings wrapped up in April. With over 300 attendees in total, these meetings revealed that long-term groundwater availability is clearly a concern for residents. This group will hold more localized meetings as it plans next steps in support of a Groundwater Management Area for Loudoun and Fauquier.
- In April, despite incredible community support for partial undergrounding of the proposed Golden to Mars transmission corridor, the State Corporation Commission selected Route 4, which will cross school property at Rock Ridge High School and Rosa Lee Carter Elementary School, requiring School Board approval by July 2. Given the School Board’s previous opposition, the SCC designated Route 3A as the mandatory backup. This alternative cuts through backyards, and would require Dominion to use eminent domain to seize land from homeowners (an outcome the SCC says would be “regrettable”).
Madison
- PEC’s work continues on the proposed Rapidan River-Clark Mountain Rural Historic District. Our consultant, the Fairfield Foundation, recently completed survey work in the Madison County community of Tanners, and PEC has formally submitted the nomination to Virginia’s Department of Historic Resources. During the department’s review process, PEC expects to hold another community meeting to gather public input in summer or fall 2026. We hope the nomination will go before the Board of Historic Resources by the end of the year. If the Board of Historic Resources approves the nomination, the district will be listed on the Virginia Landmarks Register. That listing opens the door for a final submission: for review by the Keeper of the National Register for listing on the National Register of Historic Places. The historic district, which includes over 40,000 acres of mostly intact agricultural landscape in Madison, Culpeper and Orange counties, would be one of the largest rural historic districts in Virginia.
Orange
- The Orange County Board of Supervisors has removed data centers as a by-right use from the Industrial Zoning District. Now, any future Orange County data center application will need to seek a rezoning to the Technology Zoning District and obtain a special use permit. The only exception might be the property already rezoned for the Wilderness Crossing development. No data centers are currently proposed in Orange County. PEC closely monitors land use applications and will alert the public should a data center be proposed.
- The Orange Town Council has approved an updated zoning ordinance definition of “data center” that better describes modern, hyperscale data centers. Unfortunately, the council did not incorporate PEC’s recommendation that the definition clearly distinguish between on-site emergency back up power generation and on-site primary power generation. However, council members publicly stated their intent to address that elsewhere within the zoning ordinance soon. Next up, we expect the Town Council to continue discussions about a draft data center policy document and to make additions to the zoning ordinance to provide use standards that any future data center would be required to meet. No data centers are currently proposed for the Town of Orange.
Rappahannock
- Rappahannock County continues to evaluate designs for a new, replacement courthouse building on the existing courthouse grounds in the Town of Washington. Following an open house in April, the Board of Supervisors is further assessing the most recent proposal after the judges who will preside in the building raised concerns about some design elements.
- Phase II of Rush River Commons is working to secure tenants for the planned commercial office spaces. The county Library Board of Trustees is currently considering an offer to relocate there from their current location nearby.
- FirstEnergy has announced plans to file an application to wreck and rebuild the existing Page-Sperryville transmission line with the State Corporation Commission in June. PEC is not opposed to the rebuild of the 138 kilovolt line, though we have numerous concerns about FirstEnergy’s lack of public engagement and lack of substantive information about the project.
This article appeared in the 2026 summer edition of The Piedmont Environmental Council’s member newsletter, The Piedmont View. If you’d like to become a PEC member or renew your membership, please visit pecva.org/join.
President’s Letter: Roads Through History
Every year, The Piedmont Environmental Council takes a day to celebrate the continuing progress toward our core mission of protecting lands and waters while building stronger, more sustainable communities. On a beautiful day at the end of May, we came together for our Annual Gathering, held this year at Longwood Farm, halfway down the Cedar Run watershed in the middle of working farms and forests that define a large part of Fauquier County as it extends south from Warrenton toward the Occoquan and Potomac rivers near Dumfries.