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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Business Insider
(May 8, 2026)
Data centers are increasing the risk of power outages and blackouts — and electric grid operators aren't prepared to handle it. The North American Electric Reliability Corporation — the top grid oversight agency for the US, Canada, and parts of Mexico — issued a rare alert on Monday, urging operators to address new risks posed by the deluge of data centers connecting to the grid.
Virginia Mercury
(May 8, 2026)
It turns out sheep aren’t the only animals capable of handling the job of vegetation management on solar sites. Farmers are finding that cattle also thrive among solar panels – and they will get their chance to prove it in Virginia. Given the dire economic situation facing small farms in Virginia today, “cattle-voltaics” could offer a lifeline for rural communities.
29 News
(May 6, 2026)
“The question is, should we be giving $2 billion to the five or six largest corporations in the world to incentivize their purchase of equipment outside the state, right? I think we feel pretty strongly that it’s a bad choice,” Miller said.
The piece features an interview with Piedmont Environmental Council President Chris Miller.
WJLA-ABC7News
(May 4, 2026)
A renewed push to turn a historic presidential estate in Loudoun County into Virginia’s next state park is gaining traction in Richmond—buoyed by new funding, broader political support, and a sense of urgency tied to America’s 250th anniversary.
SF Gate
(May 1, 2026)
As global temperatures rise, data centers for artificial intelligence are creating “heat islands” that could have significant impacts on communities and their surrounding environments in the years to come, a March 2026 study shows, raising alarm among international researchers.
WTVR
(May 1, 2026)
With the James River flowing just a few feet from his front door, photographer Bill Draper doesn't have to look far for his subject matter. "It gets me up every day," Draper said. "It is my life, it is what I do. It is why I get up. It makes me whole." But some say these precious views are vanishing — and a Virginia non-profit is sounding the alarm. Scenic Virginia's Lynn Crump says the organization's mission is to preserve, protect and enhance the beauty of Virginia's view sheds from unchecked development.
Bay Journal
(May 4, 2026)
For more than six years, dozens of researchers and students from around the region have pondered what a sustainable “thriving ag” landscape might look like 25 years from now. The answer, as is often the case with agriculture, is complicated and filled with tradeoffs.
Middleburg Life
(April 9, 2026)
The Orange County Hounds Conservation Foundation (OCHCF) invites the community to its safari experience on Saturday, May 16, 2026, hosted at Glenstone Farm. This one-of-a-kind event offers the opportunity to experience conservation in action, with a special cocktail reception and presentation the evening prior on Friday, May 15.
Charlottesville Tomorrow
(May 7, 2026)
Dozens of residents and community activists have been attending public meetings for nearly a year, asking Charlottesville City Council to protect historically Black and low-income neighborhoods from large-scale developments allowed in the zoning ordinance that took effect in February 2024. Charlottesville City Council has voted to issue a Certificate of Appropriateness (COA) for a 7-story luxury housing development despite strong opposition from Fifeville residents.
C-VILLE Weekly
(May 6, 2026)
When Albemarle County supervisors adopted a new Comprehensive Plan last October, they retained a growth management policy intended to limit development in crucial areas. The property owner is seeking a rezoning to the R-4 district to add spaces for 49 more mobile homes. The land is also within the watershed of the Beaver Creek Reservoir, which supplies drinking water to Crozet.
C-VILLE Weekly
(May 6, 2026)
In 2018, both Albemarle and Charlottesville adopted a small area plan to guide future development around the intersection of U.S. 29 and Hydraulic. That included a bridge across the two sides of the road that also connects two localities.
The Winchester Star
(May 7, 2026)
Mackintosh Fruit Farm in Clarke County will open Saturday for the strawberry picking season.
Fields will be open for picking from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturdays and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sundays, rain or shine, until the strawberries are gone.
Loudoun Times-Mirror
(May 7, 2026)
Luke Hahn is a young adult leader at the Washington Immanuel Presbyterian Church, and one of the dozens of faith leaders, developers, nonprofit representatives and other key players who gathered for a May 6 summit in Aldie on how to build affordable housing on church-owned land.
Loudoun Now
(May 7, 2026)
Nearly two years after work began to hear input from residents and business owners on what changes should be made to the county’s rural zoning regulations, the Board of Supervisors this week adopted the framework for that project.
This article quotes Piedmont Enviornmental Council Field Representative Gem Bingol.
Loudoun Times-Mirror
(May 6, 2026)
Greenway operator Toll Road Investors Partnership II applied last December to raise its maximum tolls. Its first proposal would raise tolls for two-axle vehicles to $6.75 during peak hours and $5.60 for off-peak hours; its second would be $6.50 and $5.65, respectively.
Loudoun Now
(May 6, 2026)
Local faith-based nonprofits could have a larger role building attainable housing across Loudoun and a seminar hosted by county government Wednesday morning was aimed at explaining how that could work.
Data Center Dynamics
(May 1, 2026)
Located between East Market Street and Potomac Station Drive, up to seven buildings could be developed across more than 100 acres. The development would include three two-story data centers totaling 600,000 sq ft (55,740 sqm) and four industrial buildings spanning 275,000 sq ft (25,550 sqm). According to the application, the project would impact approximately one acre of wetlands and 2,464 linear feet of stream channels.
This article mentions The Piedmont Environmental Council.
Middleburg Life
(April 9, 2026)
The Orange County Hounds Conservation Foundation (OCHCF) invites the community to its safari experience on Saturday, May 16, 2026, hosted at Glenstone Farm. This one-of-a-kind event offers the opportunity to experience conservation in action, with a special cocktail reception and presentation the evening prior on Friday, May 15.
The Rapidan Register
(May 2, 2026)
Those seeking out locally grown produce, homebaked goods and handmade items will have two local options to shop with the Orange Farmer’s Market and the Gordonsville Farm Patch Market. Both open Saturday, May 2 and run weekly, rain or shine, through October.
Fauquier Times
(May 7, 2026)
In the meantime, some landowners are suing to get out of the deal. Others say they are happy the project seems doomed, and the residents whose legal challenge nearly killed it are vowing to keep fighting.
FFX Now
(May 1, 2026)
Once part of George Washington’s Mount Vernon plantation, River Farm is now a historic landmark that has been owned by the American Horticulture Society (AHS) for over five decades. Its gardens and scenic views play host to special occasions such as weddings and memorial services.
Daily News-Record
(April 30, 2026)
Hundreds of residents of Timberville, Rockingham County, and beyond came to meet with VDOT representatives and to make their voices heard at the third and final public engagement meeting at the Plains District Community Center on April 28.
Richmond Times-Dispatch
(May 8, 2026)
A large data center in eastern Henrico County plans to expand its operations again. Quality Technology Services has submitted plans to build two more data center campuses and add 1,000 acres to its footprint, creating a sprawling network of digital warehouses.
Virginia Mercury
(May 7, 2026)
Dominion Energy is aiming to expand their portfolio of energy sources in Virginia with a massive 3,000 megawatt (3 gigawatts) combined cycle natural gas plant in Cumberland County. Dominion’s recent projections show that in order to meet the growing energy demands in the region, the company will have to build an estimated six natural gas plants, on top of other renewable energy sources, over the next 20 years.
ABC 13 News
(May 5, 2026)
The board of supervisors in Campbell County took a short time to decide to require special use permits for data centers, and it means community members and board members will have a say before projects move forward.
The Richmonder
(May 5, 2026)
Richmond-area General Assembly members got an earful Monday night from constituents concerned about the financial and environmental impacts of data centers. “I know every time I open a Dominion bill, I literally squeeze my hand,” said Harry Watkins, who moderated the post-legislative session town hall with local delegates and senators.
Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star
(May 5, 2026)
Another data center development is being sought in Spotsylvania, the first since the county established new data center regulations. McLean-based RCK Digital Crossroads LLC is proposing the Crossroads Technical Campus data center development in the Lee Hill District.
Richmond Times-Dispatch
(May 5, 2026)
The price Virginians with solar panels get for shipping power to Dominion Energy will decline, under a new State Corporation Commission order. The key is language in the order that says Dominion needs to track the actual electricity net-metering that customers export rather than tally the money value of that flow, as Dominion proposed.
WDBJ
(May 5, 2026)
Franklin County is considering a sweeping rewrite of its zoning ordinance, and one proposal in the 400-plus-page draft would change rules for agricultural animals such as chickens and bees.
But some residents say the larger stakes may be elsewhere.
Richmond Times-Dispatch
(May 4, 2026)
But now, the tiny county in rural Tidewater is locked in a legal battle with the tech giant that could be a bellwether for a high-stakes standoff between state legislators and the data center industry over a state sales tax exemption that has helped make Virginia the global center of the industry.
The Hill
(May 2, 2026)
At 17, I imagined computers expanding opportunity, not replacing people. I never imagined that the infrastructure powering the internet might one day displace my ancestors’ graves. But that is the quiet reality unfolding in southern Virginia.
Bay Journal
(April 22, 2026)
From February to May, the Atlantic Flyway — the migration superhighway that runs from Florida to northern Quebec (and other way around in the fall) — turns the Chesapeake Bay region into one of the busiest routes used by migratory birds in North America.
Gizmodo
(May 8, 2026)
DARPA-developed hybrid reefs installed between October 2024 and March 2025 at Tyndall AFB have cut ocean wave power to shore by more than 90% in tests, according to the agency’s university collaborators at Rutgers, all while supporting local reef growth and coastal habitats.
Daily Yonder
(May 8, 2026)
In Midcoast Maine, Wiscasset’s handling of a prospective data center ended with the community losing nearly a quarter of a million dollars of federal funding earmarked for housing. All of this happened without a data center ever breaking ground. As the data center rush unfolds in small towns, the story is not only about what gets built, but also about what doesn’t.
Utility Dive
(May 7, 2026)
The PJM Interconnection on Wednesday proposed three broad frameworks for reforming its markets to help ensure its 13-state region has adequate power supplies to meet growing demand.
The Wall Street Journal
(May 7, 2026)
Until recently, artificial intelligence was a welcome tailwind for U.S. growth. We’re beyond that now. AI is more like a hurricane-strength weather system making itself felt across the entire economy. It is distorting the stock market, profits, the speed and composition of economic growth, trade and even our moods—especially about the job market.
Blue Dot Living
(May 5, 2026)
Concerned citizens across the country are pushing back against the data centers that have begun to dot their communities. These advocates are seeing some success: $64 billion of data center projects have been blocked or delayed due to local, bipartisan activism, according to the watchdog group Data Center Watch, which also noted at least 124 activist groups have formed across 24 states.
This article quotes Piedmont Environmental Council Land Use Director Julie Bolthouse.
E&E News
(May 4, 2026)
North America’s grid watchdog is slated to issue its highest level of warning Monday about threats to the power system from large data centers, underscoring the challenges facing utilities and grid operators grappling with a surge in electricity demand.
Canary Media
(May 4, 2026)
Virginia — the world’s data center capital — is starting to catch on to the big-battery trend. But a new project by local electric providers in the state underscores that much smaller storage projects have value, too: They’re designed to fill specific community needs and — due to their size — relatively quick and low-cost to build.
The New York Times
(May 2, 2026)
Rural America has long been where the rest of the country sends what it doesn’t want nearby: prisons, power plants, landfills. These days, two more intrusions have been added to the list: immigrant detention centers and data centers.
