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.
Prince William Times
(September 25, 2025)
In recent months, Prince William Board of County Supervisors Chair Deshundra Jefferson participated in town hall meetings to address concerns about a controversial plan to allow five data centers behind the Four Seasons retirement community in Dumfries. Now, the developer behind the project is suing her.
CBS 19 News
(September 23, 2025)
Albemarle County will not be updating its regulations concerning data centers, for now. According to a release, the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors will get an update on the Data Center Zoning Text Amendment and the Data Center Zoning Map Amendment at its meeting next week. This comes after research into the data center industry, a review and update of local regulations, and talking to community members about their concerns.
It's Nice That
(September 22, 2025)
Most of us have heard by now that AI guzzles water like it’s just crossed a marathon finish line. Over the past year, headlines have warned of AI servers requiring vast quantities of water to keep cool, and simple AI queries generating many times more carbon than a standard Google search. In the creative industry, these stories only add to existing tremors of guilt and trepidation. Designers and artists who have begun to experiment with, or even rely on, generative AI now face a fresh catch-22: I know it’s bad for the environment, but soon I might have to use it, for the sake of my career.
Virginia Mercury
(September 19, 2025)
Hundreds of community members in the three Loudoun Valley Estates neighborhoods showed up to the hearing to push back against plans for the 500kv lines to be built in their backyards. Dominion has told state regulators the lines are necessary to bring more energy to data centers. All three commissioners listened to the worries of community members, many of whom have been mounting a vigorous campaign to educate the public about what the project could mean for their home values and safety.
Loudoun Now
(September 19, 2025)
In a massive turnout, the 999-seat auditorium at Rock Ridge High School was nearly filled for a hearing hosted by the State Corporation Commission on Thursday night regarding a transmission line proposal by Dominion Energy. The Golden to Mars project is the next phase of a transmission line loop that will connect new 230 kilovolt and 500 kV lines with new substations, providing additional power infrastructure to the county. It begins at the Golden substation near the intersection of Rt. 28 and the W&OD Trail and travels southeast to a new substation east of Dulles Airport.
Utility Dive
(September 19, 2025)
Some of the growing demand is from artificial intelligence data centers that have stressed utilities’ budgets as operators push for more infrastructure projects on top of grid upgrades that were probably already overdue, Baker-Branstetter said. Extreme weather has also increased utilities’ costs. But the full impact of tariffs and the loss of clean energy tax credits has yet to show up in electrical rates, they said.
The New Energy Crisis
(September 17, 2025)
Driven by the data center and AI explosion, the Mid-Atlantic region is going to see, in just 10 years, an increase in energy demand so huge that it would take the equivalent of 60 nuclear power plants to supply it. But you don’t have to wait 10 years for a crisis. On June 23, 24 and 25, as temperatures closed in on 100 degrees, the region’s power demand hit 162 gigawatts. With the grid producing only 165 gigawatts, there was no room for error. So, the Mid-Atlantic grid operator halted all maintenance, called for maximum generation and told select customers to cut back their power.
This article is the second in four-part series published in The New Energy Crisis, a project by the Fauquier Times and Prince William Times. Read more in this series at The New Energy Crisis.
The Piedmont Journal Recorder
(September 26, 2025)
A new National Park Service report shows that 1.7 million visitors to Shenandoah National Park (SNP) in 2024 spent $132 million in communities near the park. That spending had a cumulative benefit to the economies of the eight surrounding counties of the park to the tune of $175 million.
Piedmont Environmental Council
(September 24, 2025)
On Wednesday, Oct. 1, from 5-7 p.m., community members are invited to a free Conservation Funding Workshop and Social to learn about funding and technical assistance available to them for land management and conservation options that benefit water quality and wildlife, as well as working lands and farmers. They’ll also have an opportunity to discuss particular programs of interest with presenters after the formal presentations. The free workshop will be held in the Barrel Room at Powers Farm and Brewery, with light refreshments provided. Though held in Fauquier County, this event includes information relevant to other counties in Virginia and is open to all.
E&E News
(September 23, 2025)
Governors of 11 states have hardened an ultimatum to Eastern power grid operator PJM Interconnection to do more to hold down electricity costs for millions of people or face actions that could include some states leaving the regional market.
Reuters
(September 22, 2025)
Governors of more than a quarter of U.S. states pushed on Monday for greater influence over PJM Interconnection, the country's biggest power grid, where electricity prices are surging as AI data center demand outpaces the connection of new supplies. Rising power bills in PJM, which operates the grid covering 13 states and the District of Columbia, or one in five Americans, have led to a political backlash over the last year and threats by some governors to abandon the regional grid.
Augusta Free Press
(September 22, 2025)
A drought watch advisory has been issued for 28 counties in Virginia including the Shenandoah Valley. The advisories were issued due to rapid declines in the streamflow and groundwater levels due to a lack of precipitation.
Radio IQ
(September 18, 2025)
Joseph Bowring monitors the energy market for PJM – the power grid that supplies Virginia – and he predicts chaos if this state does not join with 12 others and Washington, D.C. to make a simple demand. “Require data centers that want to get online in PJM right now to bring their own new generation.” Already, he says, wholesale prices to boost capacity have spiked, pushing consumer bills up in June, and they’ll keep rising until those served by PJM or the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission take action.
FOX Weather
(September 17, 2025)
When an ill bald eagle was brought into the Blue Ridge Wildlife Center in Virginia this month, teams recognized the signs of lead poisoning and ran a blood sample through the clinic’s machine. The levels were too high for the machine’s maximum measurements.
Information Charlottesville
(September 26, 2025)
Albemarle hired the firm Kimley Horn to take a look at recent projects in the growth area to measure how they are meeting development potential. The specific metric is “theoretical maximum buildout.”
Information Charlottesville
(September 26, 2025)
In just a few days, the public will have the chance to weigh in at the official public hearing on an update of a document intended to guide development in Albemarle County.
Information Charlottesville
(September 26, 2025)
As the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors inches closer to adopting a new Comprehensive Plan update, there are ongoing initiatives to increase the amount of potential space for economic development. On October 1, Supervisors will hold a public hearing on a change to the zoning code to create an easier process to grant permission for developers to exceed a 65-foot maximum height in industrial zoning districts.
C-VILLE Weekly
(September 24, 2025)
In Charlottesville and cities across the country, the growing popularity of e-bikes has led more families to go “car-light,” replacing one or both of their cars with a two- or three-wheeled alternative. Locals who’ve made the switch say their e-bikes make a faster, more pleasant, and less expensive way to get around town—provided you can accept a few key trade-offs.
29 News
(September 20, 2025)
The Rivanna Conservation Alliance’s 6th annual Rivanna River Round-Up brought community volunteers readied with trashbags and gloves to sites spanning along the Rivanna River — spending the day cleaning waste from the watershed.
The Daily Progress
(September 19, 2025)
The operators of the Afton Express is asking for feedback on a revised schedule for the bus service connecting Staunton, Augusta County, Waynesboro and Charlottesville.
UVA Today
(September 18, 2025)
For hundreds of University of Virginia staff members, Wednesday was anything but a typical day at the office. Instead of their usual work, they rolled up their sleeves to clean, paint, and prune at local nonprofits, schools, government offices and other organizations as part of the United Way of Charlottesville’s 34th Annual Laurence E. Richardson Day of Caring.
This article includes Piedmont Environmental Council Albemarle and Charlottesville Community Advocacy Manager Peter Krebs
The Piedmont Journal Recorder
(September 22, 2025)
One of Culpeper County’s newest event venues announces the Grand Opening of their Corn Maze on Friday, October 3, 2025. Autumn Valley Farm, located at 10077 Store Road, consists of 135 acres and has been a working farm for over 20 years with seasonal crop production of soybean, corn, milo and hay. “We have an appreciation for farming and conservation,” owner Rob Edwards said. “Our comprehensive family-friendly vision begins with our desire to protect farmland from urbanization while teaching others to appreciate this valuable ecological resource as we do. The corn maze is a logical next step for folks to see the farm and enjoy the surroundings.”
Fauquier Times
(September 23, 2025)
Fauquier County is a big step closer to having a new park, now that the county planning commission has found that plans for Starke Park are in line with the county’s comprehensive plan. The new park was just one of several projects Fauquier County officials voted on in September, including two battery storage facilities and a new subdivision near Oliver City Road in Warrenton.
Fauquier Times
(September 22, 2025)
The alpacas behind Elk Run Alpaca — responsible for the fleece, fiber and other products sold at the Warrenton Farmers Market — graze just about 10 miles from the market site in Catlett, but the journey of this local business that begins on the farm takes some twists and turns before arriving in a booth in Old Town Warrenton on Saturdays.
Fauquier Now
(September 20, 2025)
The Fauquier County Board of Supervisors has approved a special exception for Dominion Energy’s first battery energy storage facility in the county — and the largest the company has rolled out to date — after delaying a vote last month to review fire safety concerns. The move represents a milestone for both Fauquier and Dominion. It is the county’s first battery energy storage system since the supervisors voted in April to permit such facilities by special exception, and it is part of Dominion’s broader push to expand battery storage across Virginia.
Loudoun Now
(September 25, 2025)
After Loudoun supervisors earlier this year changed local zoning laws to prohibit data centers from being built by-right anywhere in the county, the work is now turning to determine specific regulations for the future of the industry.
Loudoun Now
(September 24, 2025)
The Leesburg Town Council last night authorized condemnation to acquire temporary and permanent easements for the construction of the Evergreen Mill Road widening project. The project intends to widen approximately 1.3 miles of road between South King Street and the southern entrance to Heritage High School from two to four lanes. The work requires easements or land acquisition from 34 lots.
Loudoun Now
(September 24, 2025)
The Franklin Park West project includes former orchard land purchased by the county in 2019 along with the Town of Round Hill’s 28-acre Sleeter Lake Park to form a 130-acre addition to the 200-acre Franklin Park. The addition would provide space for passive recreation uses, with hiking trails and picnic pavilions. The new section of the park would be accessed via Lakefield Lane.
Loudoun Now
(September 24, 2025)
The Leesburg Town Council last night voted to put $3.2 million in data center property tax revenues, resulting from the annexation of Compass Creek’s data center campus, into a reserve within the General Fund for use with future priorities.
Loudoun Now
(September 23, 2025)
The final decision on whether a new substation can be built along Crosstrail Boulevard near Tuscarora Crossing will be made next month after a split vote by the Board of Supervisors resulted in a delay on the application’s outcome. The request for a commission permit was submitted by Tuscarora Landbay 3 LLC and aligns with previously approved plans to construct three data center buildings on the site. In July, the board voted to overturn a denial from the Planning Commission on the permit. The commission also recommended denial for a special exception request also required to build the substation.
Loudoun Times-Mirror
(September 19, 2025)
Loudoun County residents turned out en masse at a public hearing on Sept. 18 to protest proposed routes for the Golden to Mars transmission line in Ashburn. Both residents and local leaders gathered at Rock Ridge High School to urge the Virginia State Corporation Commission to consider putting the lines partially or fully underground.
CBS 19 News
(September 17, 2025)
The Shenandoah National Park Trust is getting more than $101,000 for a project to restore and reroute the Dark Hollow Falls Trail in Madison County.
American Battlefield Trust
(September 17, 2025)
A lawsuit challenging the sprawling Wilderness Crossing mega-development at the gateway to the Wilderness Battlefield may proceed, a judge ruled Tuesday afternoon in a key legal victory for the American Battlefield Trust, other preservation groups and local homeowners seeking to protect historical and cultural resources from irrevocable harm by that project.
The Piedmont Environmental Council filed an amicus curiae brief in support of the challenge to the Wilderness Crossing development.
National Parks Conservation Association
(September 17, 2025)
This week, the Circuit Court for Orange County, Virginia partially denied a motion to dismiss litigation challenging the local board of supervisors’ decision to rezone land critical to protecting Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park. This will allow portions of the litigation to continue forward and ensure the fight to safeguard Wilderness Battlefield, a pivotal part of this national park site, can proceed.
Rappahannock News
(September 25, 2025)
The Rappahannock County Farm Tour is returning this weekend, featuring 14 local farms, orchards and wineries available for self-guided tours and fall activities. Using a map of the venues, participants can visit farms on Saturday, Sept. 27, and Sunday, Sept. 28, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., rain or shine. The Rappahannock County Visitors Center on Route 211 in Washington will serve as the tour’s central location where participants can find maps and a restroom.
Rappahannock News
(September 24, 2025)
While eight residents spoke against it, the Rappahannock County Planning Commission last Wednesday voted 6-1 to recommend approval of an amendment to the Subdivision Ordinance that eliminates public hearings for subdivision applications in order to be in line with a new state law.
Rappahannock News
(September 21, 2025)
Since late May when Mayor Joe Whited himself erected new speed limit signs in the Town of Washington, county residents and visitors have been meandering through the town at 20 mph, a reduction from the previous 25 mph limit. Some residents say that lowering the speed limit was a good decision for public safety — there is often foot traffic from tourists and employees along the streets near The Inn at Little Washington. All streets inside the town’s boundaries have lowered speed limits.
The Washington Post
(September 19, 2025)
His signature achievement was the coffee klatch he convened at the local coffee shop, Before & After, just about every morning for the past 10 years, and in other locations before that. Day after day, he’d sit in the front of the shop, wearing his cowboy hat (never mind that he was from Pennsylvania) over his wild silver hair, and serve as the unofficial chairman.
Rappahannock News
(September 18, 2025)
The installations will remain in place on the Sperryville River Trail through the weekend of Nov. 2, which coincides with the Fall Art Tour. Join us to celebrate their creative endeavors and enjoy the opportunity to walk the river trail to experience their work.
Prince William Times
(September 26, 2025)
Three years ago, residents of Great Oak sounded the alarm about the window-rattling noise coming from an Amazon data center next to their neighborhood outside Manassas. Their complaints launched an effort to rewrite Prince William County’s noise ordinance to deal with the unique challenges of data center noise —a high-pitched whir and low-frequency rumble that drones on 24 hours a day.
Data Center Dynamics
(September 24, 2025)
The Prince William County Board of County Supervisors voted 4-2 to reject a data center rezoning application filed by Stack Infrastructure to expand its NVA02 campus in Virginia.
Rappahannock News
(September 23, 2025)
Members of Prince William County’s Data Center Ordinance Advisory Group are sounding off on the county’s anticipated eleventh-hour changes to the group’s draft noise ordinance ahead of the Board of County Supervisors’ Oct. 14 work session. The proposed noise-level rollbacks are designed to more seamlessly accommodate local business interests as the county looks to implement the new ordinance incrementally, members say.
CBS 19 News
(September 22, 2025)
A three-judge appellate court panel on Sept. 16 ruled in favor of defendants Stanley Martin Homes and Prince William County in a legal challenge against the Devlin Technology Park rezoning, dismissing the complaints of seven Bristow-area residents and upholding a prior Circuit Court ruling.
InsideNoVa
(September 22, 2025)
The town of Dumfries has closed on its purchase of the 161-acre Campbell property for a planned waterfront district. The $3.9 million transaction, which was announced earlier this year, represents nearly a quarter of the town’s acreage.
Dogwood
(September 25, 2025)
Back in 2017, when her daughter was just a toddler, Julie Kimmel began organizing and volunteering with local climate action groups. She wanted to make sure environmental regulations were set to keep her family and others safe as Big Tech companies expanded into Northern Virginia.
Virginia Mercury
(September 23, 2025)
Starting in January 2026, Virginia Railway Express will adjust its rail service due to the Long Bridge Project, with some trains operating from Alexandria instead of Union Station. The company is also welcoming the return of the Amtrak Step-Up Program, offering additional travel options.
WAMU
(September 18, 2025)
The old Landover Mall site has been empty for years, a tangible reminder of the economic struggles in Prince George’s County. But when residents learned of plans to build a data center where families once shopped for back-to-school clothes and holiday gifts, the vacant lot sparked community backlash. Dozens of protesters showed up at the county council’s data center task force meeting last week.
WFXR
(September 19, 2025)
The Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation (VDCR) is taking the final steps needed to create a future state park at Hayfields in Highland County. VDCR says it has finalized the acquisition of the remaining parcel needed to create the state park. They add that this milestone marks a significant step toward establishing Virginia’s newest state park. According to officials, the park will provide expanded outdoor recreation opportunities and preserve an area rich in history, natural beauty, and biodiversity.
Fredericksburg Free Press
(September 26, 2025)
Two major players in the data center industry met with members of the Spotsylvania County Board of Supervisors and the planning commission Tuesday night. Representatives from Amazon Web Services and Rappahannock Electric Cooperative provided insight into two issues most concerning to county officials and residents — electricity and water usage.
Virginia Mercury
(September 25, 2025)
After the State Corporation Commission heard nearly 100 public comments earlier this month mostly opposing the peaker gas plant the state’s biggest utility wants to operate in Chesterfield, arguments for the Chesterfield Energy Reliability Center started Tuesday. It’s up to the SCC to decide if the project is needed and reasonable for ratepayers to cover. The plant planned by Dominion Energy – dubbed the Chesterfield Energy Reliability Center (CERC) – would only run about 37% of the time but the project has neighbors sparring over if it should be built at all.
WYPR
(September 23, 2025)
The land available for data center development in Frederick County could be significantly limited by a map before the state for review. The Frederick County Council introduced a bill in June to limit the land available for data center development to a maximum of 1% of the county’s total landmass, or 4,200 acres.
Cardinal News
(September 23, 2025)
Goochland County, like other localities, wants to grow its tax base as a way to lighten the tax load on homeowners. In particular, Goochland wants to make the county just west of Richmond attractive to technology companies, especially data centers. To do that, the county has proposed some zoning changes in the form of a Technology Overlay District in the more suburbanized eastern end of the county. So far, none of this sounds particularly unusual. So why did more than 300 people crowd into the Goochland High School auditorium last week for a planning commission meeting?
Richmond Times-Dispatch
(September 20, 2025)
Hundreds of Goochland residents across several eastern neighborhoods have organized to push back against a proposed technology zone aimed at attracting tech businesses like data centers.
The Northern Virginia Daily
(September 18, 2025)
Front Royal can’t prevent data centers from coming, but the town can regulate the facilities now sprouting up across the state. A majority of the Planning Commission on Wednesday endorsed proposed changes to the zoning ordinance that sets regulations and performance standards for data centers. Data centers would be allowed only in the Industrial Employment District with a special-use permit.
Data Center Dynamics
(September 18, 2025)
Amazon Web Services (AWS) has filed for another data center campus in Louisa County, Virginia. A Joint Permit Application to the US Army Corps of Engineers and the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality was filed last month by Amazon Data Services for a new data center campus in the county.
Cardinal News
(September 26, 2025)
This time next year, repairs could be winding down to the Virginia Creeper Trail, half of which sustained catastrophic damage when the remnants of Hurricane Helene blew through Southwest Virginia one year ago Saturday. For that to happen, the U.S. Forest Service, which owns and will soon begin repairing the second half of the 34-mile recreation trail, must meet the ambitious schedule it has shared with local officials, which is to finish its work in one year.
Bay Journal
(September 25, 2025)
Jess Phillips, environmental director and citizen of the Chickahominy Indian Tribe-Eastern Division, sits on her lawnmower on tribal land in New Kent County, VA. She sees sumac, raspberries and water oak saplings all around her. “There’s a whole meal right here sitting within my grasp,” Phillips said.
Virginia Mercury
(September 25, 2025)
As a result, analysts project a sharp drop-off in solar installations in the coming years, posing a challenge to energy reliability and affordability. With data centers driving up the demand for electricity, the loss of tax credits for solar will mean higher costs for our utilities, and therefore higher utility bills for customers. Virginians who worry about high electricity bills should be very unhappy with the rollback of these incentives.
Radio IQ
(September 25, 2025)
The politics of power are on the ballot this year as voters determine what approach Virginia will take to handling increased demand on the energy grid. That issue is playing out in one of the most competitive House races on the ballot this year. Power bills are rising as data centers hog more and more electricity. That’s leading some to point the finger of blame at the Virginia Clean Economy Act. That's the ambitious 2020 law that set a goal for Virginia's power grid to be carbon free by 2040.
13 News Now
(September 24, 2025)
As Virginians prepare to elect a new governor, environmental advocates say the next administration will inherit not only challenges tied to flooding, climate change, and toxins, but also a pivotal responsibility: supporting farmers in their role as stewards of the Chesapeake Bay.
Richmond Times-Dispatch
(September 23, 2025)
Missteps by a regional power body that threaten sharply higher power bills for Virginians have led Gov. Glenn Youngkin to reassess whether to stay in the 13-state PJM Interconnection power grid. In a toughly worded speech Monday to a PJM technical conference, Youngkin said the grid operator needs urgent reform.
WFXR
(September 23, 2025)
As data centers pop up across the Commonwealth, researchers hope to find sustainable solutions to the public’s concerns. Data centers are sources of tax revenue and present construction jobs at the outset. However,
they don’t offer many long-term employment opportunities and they emit waste heat. “Can you use the waste heat from a data center to heat your greenhouse?” asked Rob Eddy, a horticulturist with the Resource Innovation Institute (RII).
Virginia Mercury
(September 23, 2025)
On September 27th, 2024, floodwaters from Hurricane Helene that had already devastated North Carolina rushed through the hills and hollers of Southwest Virginia, uprooting timber, agriculture land, homes and businesses. The impact on the region’s natural resources can still be seen today.
WFXR
(September 22, 2025)
Walking through Claytor Lake State Park, you’re used to hearing the sounds of leaves crunching under your feet and birds in the trees. Now, you’ll hear a motor whirring through the trees, and it’s one of the five all-terrain wheelchairs at Virginia State Parks, to make the outdoors more accessible for everyone.
Rappahannock News
(September 22, 2025)
Budget cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and food banks will put more strain on Virginia organizations already struggling to meet increased need and costs, food bank representatives say.
NPR
(September 22, 2025)
The island could be almost entirely underwater in the next 50 years, according to experts like Dave Schulte, a climate change researcher and ecological restoration specialist who studied Tangier extensively. Schulte co-wrote defining reports on the island in 2015 and 2021 and formerly worked for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
Environment Virginia
(September 22, 2025)
Whether you want to go hiking, camping, boating, or hunting, Virginia has outdoor recreation areas for you. From small conservation easements to Shenandoah National Park, there are a wide range of conservation areas in Virginia. Each have their own management goals and offer a different array of recreational opportunities.
Williamsburg Yorktown Daily
(September 20, 2025)
Virginia’s state parks will celebrate National Public Lands Day, the nation’s largest single-day volunteer effort for public lands, Saturday, Sept. 27.
Citizen Times
(September 20, 2025)
In the wake of Hurricane Helene, creation of reliable energy systems was both an urgent necessity and long-term challenge. In the immediate aftermath of the storm, distributed energy resources (DERs) proved vital in delivering lifesaving power to remote, storm-ravaged areas in the western mountains of North Carolina, where downed lines were difficult to access and repair. Thanks to organizations such as the Footprint Project, a solar microgrid at a fire station was used to run refrigerators, freezers, and communications; an atmospheric water generator was set up to keep relief teams hydrated without relying on single-use bottled water; and portable power stations were established to help residents in need of emergency medical care.
10 News
(September 19, 2025)
A proposed multimillion-dollar solar project has sparked debate among Franklin County residents, with the community divided over the installation of solar panels on local farmland.
News on the Neck
(September 19, 2025)
In Virginia, growing anxiety surrounds the toll data centers may take on the state’s power grid and Dahlgren Naval Support Facility is among the concerned parties, according to King George Supervisors Cathy Binder and David Sullins. Binder said she was surprised at a recent George Washington Regional Commission (GWRC) meeting when a Dahlgren representative raised concerns about data centers and energy supply.
Environment Virginia
(September 18, 2025)
Virginia’s roadless areas protect some of our commonwealth’s most pristine natural landscapes, with unparalleled hiking, fishing and hunting opportunities. They also often overlap or are adjacent to other public lands, such as state parks and the Appalachian Trail, enhancing the wildness of these areas. To keep these areas open to recreation and prevent their degradation, we need to reject the repeal of the Roadless Rule.
WSLS
(September 18, 2025)
The Southwest Virginia Wildlife Center is celebrating a major success story! The center has four state-threatened eastern box turtles, including two that are twins, that just hatched. The mother turtle, suffering from a severe ear infection, laid her eggs in captivity while still recovering. The center was able to incubate the eggs, leading to this exciting hatching. Baby turtles face many dangers, with survival rates to adulthood estimated at less than 0.1 percent.
Planet Detroit
(September 24, 2025)
A flurry of data center proposals are striking a nerve in Washtenaw County, where residents worry about impacts to water resources, air quality, utility bills, and climate goals, as well as the outsize influence big actors have in small communities.
This article quotes Piedmont Environmental Council Director of Land Use Julie Bolthouse.
Canary Media
(September 22, 2025)
Since 2021, the Sierra Club has been grading U.S. utilities on their commitment to a clean-energy transition. While most utilities have not earned high marks on the group’s annual scorecards, as a whole they had been showing some progress. That’s over now. The latest edition of the Sierra Club’s “The Dirty Truth” report finds that the country’s biggest electric utilities are collectively doing worse on climate goals than when the organization started tracking their progress five years ago. This year they earned an aggregate grade of “F” for the first time.
WTHR
(September 22, 2025)
In an abrupt last-minute move, Google has withdrawn its proposal to build a massive data center in Franklin Township, just minutes before the Indianapolis City-County Council was set to vote on the project. The rezoning plan, known as codename "Project Flo," would have converted nearly 470 acres of farmland into a data center campus. Supporters saw billions in investment, jobs and tax relief for Franklin Township schools. People against the project cite not enough jobs, power and water strain and no tax benefit.
The Cool Down
(September 21, 2025)
The Cool Down set out to map and analyze the impact of these changes across the country, interviewing top experts about whether this growth will pose a threat to local communities or an opportunity to accelerate growth, jobs, and cleaner energy.
Visual Capitalist
(September 20, 2025)
The map above, produced by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) on behalf of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Grid Deployment Office, shows the sprawling and powerful infrastructure behind America’s data center boom. Using a range of public data sources, it visualizes power transmission hubs in megawatts (MW), highlighting where the electric grid is already working hard, and where future pressure may build.
Canary Media
(September 19, 2025)
Solar generated more power than it ever has before on Texas’ grid earlier this month. That’s impressive, but even more so when you consider that it was the 17th record the power source set in the state this year, according to a new report from the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis.
Bloomberg
(September 19, 2025)
Urban-rural hostility is fueling a public transportation crisis in US cities. But demands to abandon bus and train riders ignore the economic and social costs of cutting service.
The Wall Street Journal
(September 18, 2025)
Some of the projects would be granted preferential treatment from the government, including expedited regulatory review. The administration is considering granting leases to companies that would give them access to federal land and water, according to the people and documents reviewed by The Wall Street Journal.
Environment Virginia
(September 18, 2025)
Virginia’s roadless areas protect some of our commonwealth’s most pristine natural landscapes, with unparalleled hiking, fishing and hunting opportunities. They also often overlap or are adjacent to other public lands, such as state parks and the Appalachian Trail, enhancing the wildness of these areas. To keep these areas open to recreation and prevent their degradation, we need to reject the repeal of the Roadless Rule.
Open Environmental Data Project
(September 16, 2025)
Julie Bolthouse is the Director of Land Use at the Piedmont Environmental Council (PEC). She works locally in Virginia’s nine-county region from Loudoun County to Albemarle County, advocating for more sustainability in planning processes and local land use decisions. She also co-organizes the Virginia Data Center Reform Coalition, which brings together around 40 concerned community partners to better understand the impacts of rapid hyperscale data center development in Virginia, the “data center capital of the world.” In this interview with Policy & Communications Fellow Sean Wang, she talks about these projects and how they’ve empowered communities and legislators to tackle this ever-growing issue.
IEEE Spectrum
(September 16, 2025)
But the main reason that city dwellers can no longer see a starry night is simply all the artificial light we waste into the sky. There’s even a scale for this—the Bortle scale, named after an amateur astronomer in New York state who grew tired of younger astronomers inviting him out to supposedly dark viewing sites only to find those sites not so dark. John E. Bortle’s scale goes from 1 to 9, from darkest (no artificial light on the ground or in the sky) to brightest (inner cities). Most people will live the majority of their lives in level 5 or above, without the experience of a naturally dark sky.
