In September, we encouraged you to submit comments and sign up to testify at the SCC hearings in Loudoun County to voice your concerns and call for undergrounding the Golden to Mars line, and you rose to the challenge! Over 1,000 comments and nearly 600 witnesses signed up to testify.
Data Centers
Culpeper Update: Moving the Needle
In this quarterly Culpeper update, I share some ways we’ve helped to move the needle in a positive direction, as well as provide a few important opportunities to engage with our state elected officials during the 2026 legislative session.
Orange County Residents: Demand Commonsense Data Center Regulation
This coming Tuesday, Dec. 16, the Board of Supervisors is likely to vote on a proposed zoning ordinance that does not go far enough to protect the residents and natural resources of the county. We have serious concerns that the proposed “floating zone” approach will cause land speculation across the county, industrialize agricultural areas, and allow developers to build data centers near parks, schools and homes.
The PEC Leadership Felt ‘Round the World
Finally, the world is hearing the alarm that The Piedmont Environmental Council has been sounding for years: that the unconstrained and unregulated explosion of the data center industry is forever changing the face of not only Virginia, but communities around the world.
Orange County Proposes New “Technology” Zoning District
The Orange County Planning Commission is poised to recommend a draft ordinance establishing a Technology zoning district intended to accommodate – and minimize the adverse impacts of – data centers. The county is considering many of the right questions; however, it must also consider some significant unintended consequences of a well-intentioned proposal.
Additional Transmission Lines Proposed to Serve Data Centers
There is another opportunity right now to share your input on an important issue impacting our region. We hope you will take a few minutes before Monday, Dec. 8 to voice your concerns and opinions on proposals for yet more massive transmission lines to serve data centers.
Proposed Increase to Data Center Diesel Generator Use
The Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) is currently accepting comments on a proposed change that would allow data centers to run backup diesel generators during planned outage events. Until now, these generators could only be used in the case of “sudden and reasonably unforeseeable events” or maintenance.
Fauquier Fall Updates 2025
We’ll touch on VDOT’s proposed I-66 bridge expansion at historic and iconic Thoroughfare Gap, the transition point into the rural Piedmont, at the beloved Chapman-Beverley Mill. Then, very impactful to all of us, we’ll talk about various power infrastructure and data center projects across the county.
Op-Ed: Protect Virginians from paying billions for data center infrastructure
Billions of dollars of new power generation and transmission infrastructure is needed to meet data center demand. As of now, all of Virginia’s ratepayers are on the hook to pay for this through their electric bills.
Loudoun County Fall Updates
Read on for Loudoun updates on data center, agrivoltaics, transportation, rural zoning, and water issues, as well as opportunities to weigh in on important issues impacting your community!