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.
Credit: Amie Ware |
Bald Eagle in Loudoun County |
Submit a Photo
WTOP News
(July 29, 2026)
QR codes have become so woven into everyday life that most people scan them without a second thought. They’re often included in restaurant menus, parking meters, package tracking notices and event check-ins. That familiarity is precisely what makes them attractive to scammers, and Google’s Trust and Safety team recently flagged QR code phishing as one of the fastest-growing threats they’re tracking.
The Piedmont Journal Recorder
(July 27, 2026)
Like BBQs, flip-flops or a cool swim on a hot day, fireflies are a sign of summer. One of our most beloved insects, no species evokes such warm feelings of nostalgia as fireflies. Many of us have cherished memories of chasing and catching these enchanting critters on warm summer nights, but there are signs the next generation of kids may not grow up with the same firefly memories.
Prince William Times
(July 2, 2026)
The Prince William Digital Gateway — a data center complex that could have brought up to 37 data centers to the edge of Manassas National Battlefield Park — is officially dead. Rural Gainesville residents who had been fighting the project since the weeks after it was approved in 2023 received word Thursday afternoon that data center developer QTS had withdrawn its appeal to the Virginia Supreme Court — which was the project’s only lifeline.
WUSA 9
(July 1, 2026)
For 20 years, Vicky Hu has called her Ashburn neighborhood home. She raised her family here. She planned to retire here. That plan is now in jeopardy after the Virginia State Corporation Commission approved a route this week for new high-voltage transmission lines that will run directly through her backyard — clearing the final regulatory hurdle for Dominion Energy to begin construction.
This article mentions The Piedmont Environmental Council's concerns about this line's environmental impacts.
WUSA 9
(July 1, 2026)
One day after state regulators approved a route for massive new power lines through an Ashburn neighborhood, two of Loudoun County's most powerful governing bodies are scrambling to potentially stop it — and the family at the center of the fight says they're not giving up.
Notus
(July 1, 2026)
Souring public sentiment led state lawmakers to grapple with how to regulate the industry and create a first-of-its-kind tax. Virginia Connects, the state-focused arm of the Data Center Coalition, whose members include Amazon Web Services, Google and Microsoft, has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars in recent weeks on television and digital ads touting the economic benefits of data centers and downplaying criticisms, including about the industry’s water usage.
Loudoun Now
(July 1, 2026)
This week, years of effort culminated in a vote by the General Assembly that authorized the commonwealth to acquire a historic home in Loudoun County that will become its next state park. Oak Hill, a 1,250-acre estate owned by President James Monroe, sits outside the Village of Aldie. The property houses a mansion finished by the president in 1823 as well as 10 additional structures including an old smokehouse and a tower once used to provide running water to the home.
Virginia Mercury
(June 30, 2026)
A new tax has been activated for data centers, the most energy-intensive industry in Virginia, through a provision of the two-year state budget the legislature finalized Monday. The spending plan preserves data centers’ sales and use tax exemption, the focus of a protracted legislative fight over the past few months.
Prism Reports
(June 29, 2026)
Almost 75% of Americans across the political spectrum oppose constructing data centers near their homes, according to a recent Gallup poll. A majority—63%—are concerned by federal regulatory agencies’ practice of approving projects without first evaluating environmental and public health concerns.
Cardinal News
(July 2, 2026)
Utilities in the Southeast are planning a massive gas buildout and using Big Tech’s data center scramble as justification. I’ve spent five and a half years representing environmental nonprofits before state utility commissions — first in South Carolina, and now in Virginia. I still believe that tech companies can course correct the utilities’ plans and save the clean energy transition that data centers are threatening.
The Daily Progress
(July 1, 2026)
Central Virginia is not home to a sizable data center population, but the spread of the boxy, buzzing buildings that power the internet outside of the world's data center capital in Northern Virginia has Charlottesville-area residents ready to declare a moratorium on their construction.
This article quotes Piedmont Environmental Council Land Use Field Representative Don McCown.
Politico
(July 1, 2026)
Data Center Alley is facing a climate test. Searing temperatures this week could push energy demand to record levels on the mid-Atlantic’s electric grid, which fuels the country’s data center boom in Virginia.
WHRO
(June 30, 2026)
State officials say PFAS, which have been associated with health issues, have been found in drinking water systems across Virginia. Virginia has received nearly $69 million to test for and treat so-called "forever chemicals” in drinking water over the past five years, but state officials said the cost of reducing contaminants could be hundreds of millions of dollars more.
Loudoun Now
(June 30, 2026)
The Virginia Piedmont Heritage Area Association is pleased to announce Tom deButts as its new chair. DeButts has been a member of the VPHA Board of Directors for six years, is an international trade lawyer who has deep roots in Fauquier and Loudoun counties and is a strong advocate of historic and land preservation.
Reuters
(June 29, 2026)
U.S. Senator Angus King is urging the country's top energy regulator to reject NextEra Energy's (NEE.N), opens new tab proposed $66.8 billion acquisition of Dominion Energy (D.N), opens new tab, saying the deal would consolidate too much power in the hands of one company, a filing on Monday showed.
The Daily Progress
(July 1, 2026)
The meeting, organized by Athens, Georgia-based Landmark Properties on June 24 because it was required by city guidelines, was quickly hijacked by enraged residents — some not even residents of the neighborhood.
C-VILLE Weekly
(July 1, 2026)
One of the tasks awaiting Charlottesville’s next director of Neighborhood Development Services is how to respond to ongoing calls to amend the city’s 2023 zoning code to hinder the construction of tall buildings in some areas. “There are a lot of unintended consequences because of some of the decisions that were made in the ordinance,” said Preservation Piedmont’s Jean Hiatt at a June 23 listening session held by the city’s Neighborhood Development Services department.
Charlottesville Tomorrow
(June 26, 2026)
In Charlottesville and Central Virginia, immigrant families are afraid to go to work, the grocery store or to take their children to school. Many have lost loved ones, social support networks and the income of family breadwinners to detentions and deportations. Some are going hungry. A free virtual community forum on Monday, June 29 aims to shed light on those challenges.
Culpeper Star-Exponent
(July 1, 2026)
Long the subject of public debate over its future use and tied up for years in local government red tape, a highly visible piece of the old Zeus Clore farm on the U.S. 29 bypass in Culpeper was recently approved for a commercial rezoning.
Culpeper Times
(June 30, 2026)
The Culpeper Town Council has approved resolutions supporting three transportation improvement projects totaling more than $32 million in estimated costs, allowing the town to submit the proposals for consideration under the Virginia Department of Transportation's SMART SCALE funding program.
Rappahannock News
(June 27, 2026)
I read with interest the excellent article in the Rappahannock News last week about the attempts by the builder of Gigaland Data Center to bribe the people of Fauquier County into allowing the construction of their huge data center in Remington. A $10 million gift to nonprofits. Nice!
Fauquier Now
(July 2, 2026)
The Virginia legislature Monday voted to accept Gov. Abigail Spanberger’s amendment to the budget to include the acquisition of Oak Hill, the former home of President James Monroe, as Virginia’s – and Loudoun County’s – newest state park. Del. John McAuliff, a Democrat representing parts of Fauquier and Loudoun counties, introduced the idea in the 2026 legislative session via House Bill 500.
Loudoun Now
(July 2, 2026)
As the saga surrounding the Golden to Mars transmission line project seemingly comes to a close, Dominion Energy hosted another set of open houses for two substation projects that will connect with the power lines. The Aspen substation will be located southeast of Leesburg along the W&OD Trail, near where it intersects with Cochran Mill Road. The station will serve as the starting point for new 230-kilovolt and 500-kV transmission lines, known as the Aspen to Golden project.
Loudoun Now
(July 2, 2026)
The Round Hill Town Council advertised to fill one Planning Commission seat, but last night voted to appoint two new members. Andrew Paquette is a retired Marine who serves as a supervisor with the U.S. Department of the Treasury and has expertise in IT and telecommunications. He lives in the Lake Ridge Estates neighborhood. Trey Worth is a retired Coast Guard captain who lives in the downtown area and last year opened the Farm to Trail Co. store on Main Street.
Loudoun Now
(July 1, 2026)
More than 500 people attended a community information meeting in Lovettsville yesterday as yet another power line battle emerges in Loudoun County. This one is focused on plans for a 260-mile 765-kilovolt line that will run from Putnam County in West Virginia to Frederick, MD, crossing Loudoun County.
Blue Ridge Leader
(July 1, 2026)
The Board of Supervisors voted 6-3 at its June 2 business meeting to approve the Valley Commerce Center rezoning application, clearing the way for nearly 1 million square feet of industrial development on land currently zoned for 39 homes. The decision concludes more than a decade of annexation and rezoning efforts that began under family ownership and later continued under the current owner Chuck Kuhn.
Loudoun Now
(July 1, 2026)
In a rare joint meeting between the Board of Supervisors and Planning Commission on Tuesday, county leaders gathered to talk about two significant zoning projects. Specifically, the western Loudoun zoning regulations and the second phase of new regulations for data centers and their related infrastructure.
Utility Dive
(June 30, 2026)
A Virginia bill signed June 17 codified a state definition for agrivoltaics – defining it in part as the “intentional co-location of agricultural production and solar energy generation on the same land” – which agrivoltaic proponents say will expand distributed generation and potentially revitalize fallow farmland.
This article highlights the Virginia governor's agrivoltaics bill signing at The Piedmont Environmental Council's Community Farm at Roundabout Meadows. Read our press release about this event .
Loudoun Now
(June 30, 2026)
The State Corporation Commission on Tuesday released a final order in an application by Dominion Energy to build a new transmission line through eastern Loudoun–approving a route that will cross through recently acquired Loudoun County Public Schools Property.
Ironically, PEC staff have learned, this line could have been run through the commercial land owned by a data center just east of Rock Ridge High School, but permission to use that land was refused and Dominion indicated it would be too costly to pursue.
Loudoun Now
(June 30, 2026)
Loudoun’s state and local leaders on Monday said they oppose rate increases proposed by Toll Road Investors Partnerships II on the Dulles Greenway.
Loudoun Now
(June 26, 2026)
After a brief 30-minute hearing Friday afternoon, the State Corporation Commission ruled against extending the July 2 deadline for the Loudoun County School Board to decide whether to approve the preferred route for a new power line project.
Rappahannock News
(June 28, 2026)
More than 200 Rappahannock County residents have signed a petition seeking zoning rules aimed at preventing data center development, though county officials say the current ordinance already prohibits such facilities.
This article quotes Piedmont Environmental Council Field Representative Sarah Parmelee, who addressed the Rappahannock County Planning Commission.
Prince William Times
(July 1, 2026)
What would be the largest data center development in Prince William County history – larger even than the Digital Gateway – could be stopped in its tracks next week if the county supervisors follow the county staff’s recommendation to deny an initial approval needed for the project to move forward. On Tuesday, July 7, the supervisors are scheduled to vote on whether to initiate a “comprehensive plan amendment” for a project known as “Dulles Innovation South.”
InsideNoVa
(June 29, 2026)
Prince William County’s third and final public input meeting for the upcoming Thoroughfare Historic Park Master Plan Thursday set the stage for the project’s inclusion in the county’s budget while gathering feedback from concerned citizens. The park will be centered around the Fletcher-Allen and Potter’s Field cemeteries in one of the county’s most historic African American communities.
Fauquier Now
(June 26, 2026)
The Prince William Board of County Supervisors on Tuesday imposed a 90-day deferral for Dominion Energy’s controversial Vint Hill gas-insulated switching station in Nokesville.
Catholic World Report
(June 27, 2026)
Data centers continue popping up across the country to fuel the growth of artificial intelligence in everyday life, and the Catholic Diocese of Arlington is home to the densest concentration of these facilities in the world, known as “Data Center Alley.”
Fauquier Now
(July 2, 2026)
The Virginia legislature Monday voted to accept Gov. Abigail Spanberger’s amendment to the budget to include the acquisition of Oak Hill, the former home of President James Monroe, as Virginia’s – and Loudoun County’s – newest state park. Del. John McAuliff, a Democrat representing parts of Fauquier and Loudoun counties, introduced the idea in the 2026 legislative session via House Bill 500.
VPM
(July 1, 2026)
Consumer costs will rise upon reentry — spurring a last-minute rebate plan. Virginia is set to rejoin the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative on Wednesday.
Virginia Mercury
(July 1, 2026)
With new state dollars granted by the General Assembly by way of a budget amendment from Gov. Abigail Spanberger, scientists and lawmakers plan to examine the menhaden population inside the Chesapeake Bay, the culmination of years of legislative efforts.
Richmond Times-Dispatch
(July 1, 2026)
The rising costs to utilities of Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative allowances mean that even with the new state budget’s promise of rebates to some ratepayers, there’s still more money than Virginia got in the past for flood prevention and energy efficiency.
29 News
(July 1, 2026)
The number of Virginians enrolled in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, has dropped 14% since the One Big Beautiful Bill Act went into effect, according to data from the USDA.
Bay Journal
(July 1, 2026)
Risking a government shutdown, Virginia lawmakers debated for weeks about how to make data centers “pay for their fair share” before finally passing a budget that counts on $1.2 billion in tax revenue from the industry.
Newsweek
(July 1, 2026)
Henrico County employees, including school staff, have reportedly been asked to conserve electricity after the Virginia county, home to multiple data centers, said its power costs for government and school facilities would rise by nearly 25 percent starting July 1, adding an estimated $5 million in the next fiscal year.
American Farmland Trust
(June 30, 2026)
On June 17, in Loudoun County, Virginia, Governor Abigail Spanberger joined stakeholders at a ceremonial bill signing to recognize a formal definition of agrivoltaics in the state. This legislation [SB 340 / HB 508], cosponsored by Senator Russet Perry and Delegate John McAuliff, represents an important step toward greater clarity on how solar development and agriculture can intersect to increase financial benefits for farmers.
This article mentions the Gov. Spanberger's agrivoltaics bill signing held at The Piedmont Environmental Council's Community Farm at Roundabout Meadows. Read our press release about that event.
Virginia Mercury
(June 29, 2026)
Our romance with data centers has cooled in Virginia, home to the world’s greatest concentration of these power-glutton behemoths. But we could do with data centers slowing their jackrabbit pace of reproduction in congested suburbs and, instead, building where they could fill a need and do more economic good.
Richmond Times-Dispatch
(June 29, 2026)
The budget compromise that the House of Delegates and state Senate approved on June 22 would increase the consumption tax to $0.011 per kilowatt-hour — a big jump from the $0.000875 that data centers and other big electricity users had been paying. It's an alternative to the demand from Senate Finance Committee chair Louise Lucas, D-Portsmouth, to end the current sales tax exemption for data centers that was at the heart of a four-month-long impasse over the state budget.
13 News Now
(June 28, 2026)
Virginia farmers affected by devastating late-spring frost and freeze events are now eligible for federal disaster assistance after the U.S. Department of Agriculture approved a disaster declaration for much of the Commonwealth.
The Virginian-Pilot
(June 27, 2026)
Goochland County will consider its first major data center proposal under its new Technology Overlay District. The 900-megawatt, 872-acre campus would rank among the largest energy-intensive developments in Virginia while marking a new chapter in the county’s effort to attract tech industry investment along Route 288.
Rappahannock News
(June 26, 2026)
President Donald Trump was expected to sign a bipartisan bill on Wednesday that represents the most significant congressional action to address the nation’s housing shortage in decades, which has aspects first piloted in Virginia.Trump instead declined to sign and pledged not to do so unless Congress passes a controversial voting access bill, but it’s possible the measure will still become law.
Heatmap
(June 26, 2026)
The movement against data centers is raising up a raison d'etre of the anti-renewables movement: protecting would-be farmland. Farm owners and operators across the U.S. are winning national headlines almost every week for rejecting big dollar offers from data center developers. In Hanover County, Virginia, protestors are chanting “Grow Tomatoes, Not Data Centers.”
Richmond BizSense
(June 26, 2026)
It’s been a busy few weeks for data center-related actions in Hanover County. A proposal to build data centers near Kings Dominion appears to have powered down, as a vote on a similar development east of Ashland was delayed earlier this month and Hanover supervisors reinstated the county’s previous data center tax last week.
Richmond Times-Dispatch
(June 26, 2026)
Virginia families are hurting, and the rising costs of electricity are a part of the problem. Before Virginia moves forward to approve the largest energy monopoly in American history, which proposes to merge Dominion Energy with Florida-based NextEra, regulators and lawmakers must guarantee that our actions are in the best interests of Virginians.
Bloomberg
(July 24, 2026)
Two weeks before the board of a Southern California environmental agency was to vote on a pair of landmark climate initiatives last May, staff raised an alarm. “An aggressive campaign” from an “AI powered platform,” they told executives, was flooding their servers with thousands of emails from the public opposing the proposals to phase out gas water heaters and furnaces in nearly half the state’s homes.
Heatmap
(July 2, 2026)
Independence Day marks the expiration of federal tax credits for wind farms and solar arrays, subsidies that have been in effect in some form or another since 1978. Democrats in Congress are determined to restore them. That isn’t necessarily what the industry wants.
Daily Yonder
(June 29, 2026)
Though the majority of in-progress data centers are in metropolitan areas, our reporting and data analysis show that large data centers represent outsized investments in rural areas. Smaller populations often mean smaller tax bases and fewer government officials, leaving rural communities with fewer resources to negotiate deals with developers or weather the tax revenue fallout after facility closures.
Reuters
(June 29, 2026)
U.S. Senator Angus King is urging the country's top energy regulator to reject NextEra Energy's proposed $66.8 billion acquisition of Dominion Energy, saying the deal would consolidate too much power in the hands of one company.
WBUR
(June 26, 2026)
America’s data center revolt shows no signs of slowing down. People across the country and across the political spectrum are organizing to voice concerns about energy and water use, pollution and broader angst about artificial intelligence. Here & Now‘s Peter O’Dowd speaks with Jael Holzman, a reporter for the climate news site Heatmap, who has been digging into the data center backlash.
