A weekly news digest of stories about land use, energy, conservation and environmental issues. We hope you’ll share this with others who might find it interesting, and consider supporting the PEC.
Photo by Chuck Cross |
Hay Bales Field Along Driveway, Rappahannock |
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Virginia Mercury
(July 17, 2025)
The State Corporation Commission said Dominion Energy’s 2024 Integrated Resource Plan, while “legally sufficient”, raises concerns about future spending plans that will significantly impact millions of residential and business customers' monthly bills.
See PEC's recent press release on this topic: https://www.pecva.org/work/energy-work/state-corporation-commission-must-set-fair-rates-and-protect-virginia-residents-from-subsidizing-data-center-infrastructure/
Fast Company
(July 17, 2025)
Exploding demand is especially burdensome for states serviced by PJM, a regional transmission organization. With Virginia importing more energy than any other state—50.1 million megawatt hours, or 36% of its total energy supply, as of 2023—he expansion of the state’s energy needs are expected to reverberate throughout the region.
PEC's director of land use, Julie Bolthouse, is quoted in this piece.
Shift Key (Heatmap Podcast)
(July 16, 2025)
The future of the American solar, wind, battery and electric vehicle industries looks very different now than it did last year. On this week’s episode, we ask what the law, in its final version, actually repealed and what it left intact? How much could still change as the Trump administration implements the law, and what does it mean for U.S. economic competitiveness?
Volts (Podcast)
(July 16, 2025)
Host David Roberts in conversation with the authors of a new Ember report, who find that solar-plus-storage costs have declined so much that it can now provide baseload-level power in sunny cities for less than the cost of new nuclear or even new gas.
Wired
(July 16, 2025)
At a Pittsburgh summit, the Trump administration, energy executives, and tech barons joined as one to promote AI as the future of fossil fuels.
Inside Climate News
(July 16, 2025)
A follow on to President Trump’s executive order on grid reliability, the report promotes the continued use of a Dominion Energy coal plant that lost over $200 million in 2023.
Canary Media
(July 15, 2025)
Known as REAP, the program has faced a series of setbacks under the Trump administration. Nearly $1 billion in funding was frozen for months, and now a window for new applications that was supposed to open July 1 was closed at the last minute.
Prince William Times
(July 14, 2025)
Prince William County’s rising demand for electricity — driven almost exclusively by data centers — will soon tap out the power delivered via the closest 500-kilovolt-fed substation, which is in Fauquier County.
BBC
(July 14, 2025)
Plans to erect one of the largest data centres in the world at Manassas, on the very ground where the Union army lost the first major land battle of the US Civil War, have highlighted their encroachment on historic lands, the environment and local communities.
Free Lance-Star
(July 13, 2025)
Residents in Stafford County, which has 16 data center campuses in the pipeline, are rallying the troops to oppose nearby data centers because of their proximity to the Rappahannock River.
RTO Insider
(July 13, 2025)
A new analysis concludes there will not be enough computer chips produced in the entire world to supply the data centers projected to be built just in the United States.
Richmond Times-Dispatch
(July 12, 2025)
Dating back to the 1700s, many of the ponies are believed to be descendants of horses who survived a Spanish galleon shipwreck in 1750. Today, the herd is managed by the Chincoteague Volunteer Fire Company, who host a pony auction on the last Thursday of July to the delight of spectators who gather to watch the herd swim from Assateague to Chincoteague Island.
Loudoun Now
(July 12, 2025)
A proposal to replace flex-warehouse buildings near Sterling with data centers and a utility substation was approved – it will rezone 17 acres from Planned Development and permit the redevelopment of 268,700 square feet of existing flex-warehouse space into 600,000 square feet of data center uses and a five-acre substation.
Nature
(March 5, 2025)
Over the past few years, Culpeper County has approved the construction of seven large data-centre projects – each facility is likely to consume the same amount of electrical power as tens of thousands of residential homes.
Sarah Parmelee, PEC's Land Use Field Representative for Culpeper, is featured in this piece.
Northern Virginia Magazine
(July 16, 2025)
Researchers are finding pet dogs can also help sniff out other agricultural pests, too. Another recent study showed that trained pet dogs could also detect powdery mildew, a major fungal disease of grapes and vineyards, with more than 90 percent accuracy.
Spotlight PA
(July 15, 2025)
Lawmakers are pushing for incentives and accelerated permitting to make PA more attractive to data center developers. State Rep. Stephenie Scialabba (R., Butler), chair of the state’s AI Opportunity Task Force, said Pennsylvania needs to “act in the next year or two” to attract companies or risk losing them to other states.
CBS News
(July 15, 2025)
Among the projects will be the construction of data centers to help provide the enormous amounts of energy needed to power AI, and an energy innovation center to train workers in the Pittsburgh region in energy and AI jobs.
The Washington Post
(July 11, 2025)
To be in the forest with scientists — fireflyers, they call themselves — is to discover a fireworks show more intricate than any human-produced pyrotechnics.
C-Ville.com
(July 16, 2025)
The communication issues encountered in Kerr County are not unique, says Majid Shafiee-Jood, an assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering at the University of Virginia.
Charlottesville Tomorrow
(July 15, 2025)
Though St. John Elementary School in Albemarle County was largely unknown after its closure in 1954, members of a local church discovered it was a Rosenwald School for Black children when it opened during the 1922-1923 school year. Now, an effort to preserve the building's history while transforming it into a resource for the current community is underway.
C-VILLE Weekly
(July 12, 2025)
Resilient Together has been curtailed with the rescission of a $460,000 federal grant – that's in addition to cuts to tax incentives for solar and wind projects.
The Crozet Gazette
(July 5, 2025)
Haystacks have a fascinating history that trace back to the ancient agricultural practices of civilizations such as the Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans who would cut, collect, and store grasses to feed their livestock during the winter months.
Culpeper Times
(July 15, 2025)
About 50 people turned out on June 24 for a presentation on preliminary findings in a Cultural Landscape Resources (CLR) report on the battlefield.
Fauquier Times
(July 15, 2025)
Penalties for making noise in Fauquier County are tightening up for the first time in a decade. Supervisors voted to overhaul the county’s noise ordinance, adding new restrictions, expanding standards for enforcement and making violations more costly.
Loudoun Now
(July 17, 2025)
After more than a year of negotiations with county leaders, residents along Hiddenwood Lane received a final denial for their proposal to rezone the neighborhood with the goal of selling their homes and moving away.
Loudoun Now
(July 16, 2025)
During the heat wave at the end of June, power demand in the region peaked at its third highest recorded usage ever, resulting in regional power coordinators requesting some customers run on backup power to provide relief to the grid. Residents in Loudoun County noticed.
Loudoun Now
(July 16, 2025)
The rezoning application, submitted by JK Land Holdings, would permit up to 556,746 square feet of data center space on a 22-acre tract, as well as permit up to 416,000 square feet of warehouse or distribution uses, or up to 218,000 square feet of industrial uses.
Loudoun Now
(July 14, 2025)
The 150-acre farm south of Round Hill, which grows and donates food to regional food banks, said it envisioned a 7,200-square-foot center that would include shelter for volunteers and students and also for hosting events, which would violate the terms of the easement.
News Break
(July 13, 2025)
Loudoun animal control initially brought the beaver to Kristi’s Caring Hands Wildlife Rehabilitation, who later transferred her to Blue Ridge Wildlife Center, where X-rays revealed pneumonia and possible trauma from a dam collapse or flooding.
Loudoun Now
(July 11, 2025)
A small farm stand opened near Middleburg this afternoon – the culmination of years of work by Gathering Springs Farm owners Sarah Obuchowicz and Pam Jones. The 13-acre farm was founded by the duo in 2018 now has over 60 members, and participation at area farmers markets.
PJR News
(July 13, 2025)
VDOT plans to reconstruct an existing un-signalized intersection of Virginia Route 230 (Orange Road), Virginia Route 231 (S. Blue Ridge Turnpike), and Route 687 (Fairground Road) as a four-leg, single-lane roundabout. A design public hearing will be held on August 19 from 4:30 – 6:30 p.m. at Renback Barn event center located at 8668 S Blue Ridge Turnpike in Rochelle.
Rappahannock News
(July 11, 2025)
A little noticed Virginia law, that took effect July 1, has effectively sidelined the Rappahannock County Planning Commission and the Board of Supervisors from reviewing and voting on applications affecting property subdivisions.
Prince William Times
(July 16, 2025)
Since the Prince William Board of County Supervisors approved the Prince William Digital Gateway two years ago, a group of nearby residents have been challenging the project in court. A judge's refusal to dismiss their lawsuit has fueled a cautious optimism that the residents might prevail.
InsideNoVa
(July 14, 2025)
William O. Cooley, a real estate developer based in West Palm Beach, Florida is the owner of one of three parcels eyed for data center construction as part of the forthcoming Lexora Park project near Four Seasons.
InsideNoVa
(July 11, 2025)
Washington, a trustee for Scott Cemetery in Thoroughfare, filed the suit against the county government and International Investments for alleged failure to protect the desecration of the historically-recognized cemetery in Thoroughfare belonging to families of freed slaves and indigenous Native Americans.
Fairfax Now
(July 16, 2025)
Fairfax County Planning Commission approved Dominion Energy’s requests for two new electrical substations to support future data centers in the Dulles area, including a 300-megawatt Tower View substation east of Dulles International Airport.
Fredericksburg Free Press
(July 10, 2025)
Concerns surrounding the transmission lines needed to power the proposed 2.1 million square foot campus led to the project’s undoing.
Cardinal News
(July 17, 2025)
Roanoke expresses concerns over Carvins Cove water loss and that the city is “giving away” a key asset. Botetourt says a multimillion-dollar plan to address the issue is already in place.
Fredericksburg Free Press
(July 16, 2025)
The board voted 4-1 to deny the permit to Open Road Renewables and Gibson Solar I, LLC, which sought to erect the solar panels on approximately 890 acres of private land made up of 48 parcels adjacent to Kings Highway.
Free Lance-Star
(July 15, 2025)
The Lions of Virginia Foundation and several Fredericksburg-area Lions Clubs awarded Rappahannock Education Farm $30,600 to help it continue to provide fresh produce for local food pantries.
Environment Virginia
(July 15, 2025)
Machicomoco State Park is located along the York River, roughly 10 miles downriver from Werowocomoco, a village that served as the headquarters of the Powhatan chiefdom. The park is one of Virginia’s newer state parks having been established in 2020 and officially opened in 2021. It is beautiful and beaming with cultural history and natural beauty.
Roanoke Rambler
(July 15, 2025)
The number of large data centers this region can accommodate is limited by how much electricity and water is available to support the current generation of resource-hungry computer facilities. Only a few additional sites can be equipped, far less than the northern area with its 150-plus centers.
Richmond BizSense
(July 14, 2025)
Entities involved in plans to build proposed data center campuses in western Chesterfield have spent about $60 million to secure more than 1,200 acres between two sites, one near Moseley and the one near Westchester Commons, according to Chesterfield courthouse records.
6 Local News
(July 14, 2025)
Virginia’s DEQ issued a Notice of Violation to the City of Hopewell’s wastewater treatment plant for eight discharges of raw wastewater six months prior to Friday night’s massive discharge of raw sewage into the James River and Gravely Run Creek.
Free Lance-Star
(July 12, 2025)
The agreement, which aims to protect the county and its water resources, will govern the amount and duration of allowable potable bridging water, max withdrawal rate from Level 1 Reuse System and maximum site discharge rates.
The Progress-Index
(July 12, 2025)
The Virginia Department of Health says Hopewell's water appears safe to drink but not to swim or play in after a power failure at the city wastewater plant forced a spillage of 1.38 million gallons of sewage into the James River and a few of the city’s waterways.
WVTF
(July 16, 2025)
Anyone who’s tried to buy a house in Virginia in recent years will tell you it's not easy. There aren’t many houses available, and that leads to inflated prices and bidding wars. But changes from state agencies and the legislature are giving some hope.
The Northern Virginia Daily
(July 16, 2025)
A coalition of 12 local governments made their presence known at Wednesday morning’s Commonwealth Transportation Board meeting, voicing strong support for converting the Shenandoah Valley’s dormant rail corridor into a dedicated multi-use recreational trail.
The Virginian-Pilot
(July 15, 2025)
Diamondback terrapins, found all along the East Coast, are the only turtles found in brackish water and problems begin when they move into areas with crab pots. Specifically, they can get stuck in the submerged pots that are common in Virginia’s waters and drown.
Cardinal News
(July 14, 2025)
Why should we care if developers in Northern Virginia lose money? Here’s why: Northern Virginia contributes 42% of the state’s general funds.
Canary Media
(July 16, 2025)
The DOE’s emergency stay-open orders for aging fossil-fuel plants are forcing unexpected costs onto utility customers. Utility customers will pay the price — literally — if the Trump administration continues to unnecessarily force fossil-fueled power plants to stay open in the name of grid reliability, energy experts and regulators warn.
Canary Media
(July 16, 2025)
Rocky Mountain Steel gets most of its electricity from a 300-MW solar project in Colorado. A private-equity firm is acquiring the steel mill’s owner in a $500M deal.
CNBC
(July 15, 2025)
Google will spend $25 billion on data centers and artificial intelligence infrastructure in the PJM electric grid region over the next two years. And has
also signed a framework agreement to purchase hydroelectric power from Brookfield Asset Management.
Heatmap
(July 15, 2025)
In addition to overhauling the IRA’s clean energy tax credits, Republicans in Congress rescinded unobligated funds from 47 of the law’s more than 80 climate and environmental programs. According to scores from the Congressional Budget Office, $31.7 billion of the $93.4 billion for those programs was left.
Data Center Dynamics
(July 13, 2025)
By 2050, major data center hubs are expected to face significant climate risks, with 20-64% of facilities likely to be highly vulnerable to physical damage from climate-related events. Without significant investment, insurance premiums could soar by three to four times.
