Make it make sense: at a time when Virginians’ bills are being hit by soaring fuel costs, yet again tied to never-ending wars overseas, Dominion is proposing what would be the second-largest gas plant in the United States... You and I will finance this unnecessary three-gigawatt behemoth in Cumberland County, and AI data centers will use the electricity.

The Orange County Board of Supervisors received a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request from a citizen seeking the release of any non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) between the County and potential data center developers and/or their representatives. County staff entered into two agreements. After considering interim legal counsel’s advice, the Board of Supervisors ordered the release of both NDAs in their entirety. The Board remains committed to balancing transparency with its responsibility to protect legally exempt confidential information when appropriate.

What could be perceived as an evasion of public accountability could also be perceived as a public victory when the County Planning Commission on May 13 voted to table the consent agenda, which featured two items related to data centers.

A data center campus that would straddle the Hanover-Ashland line is coming back before the county’s planning commission. Reston-based WestDulles Properties is seeking zoning approval for its proposed Iron Horse data center project, which would rise on 78 acres..

Loudoun's bumper crop of data centers has been in the spotlight for years. But another type of project is moving in with them: substations. These projects are essential for data centers, and applications regularly come to county leaders for approval. But several Loudoun supervisors are frustrated with a current one from Dominion Energy, though.

After Dulles, the suburbs begin to lose their gentleness as you drive west from Washington. The strip malls get smaller. The trees return. Then, out of nowhere, the warehouses show up. They are long, windowless, fenced, and arranged like massive shoeboxes that were dropped by something that didn’t give a damn where they ended up. The hum you hear in Loudoun County is the result of about 200 data centers performing the unseen labor that keeps your AI chatbot responding and your inbox loading. The hum is initially faint but eventually becomes constant.

The poll, conducted this spring and released Wednesday, found that seven out of 10 Americans said they would oppose a data center being built near them, including nearly half who say they strongly oppose the projects.

Developer Highland Properties Manassas LLC has withdrawn its plan to build Quantico Ridge, an approximately 160-acre data center in Prince William County, Virginia. The company withdrew its request to change the zoning of a land parcel...

But that didn't stop representatives of various trade and building associations from packing council chambers on Tuesday to express support for the project. Several council members privately expressed surprise...

Nationally, a record number of proposed projects were canceled in the first quarter of this year following local pushback. Meanwhile, in extreme cases, concerns about AI appear to be tipping into violence.

Seventy percent of respondents said they were worried to some degree about how the centers, infamous for their massive energy and water consumption, would impact the local environment...

This is no longer an issue that lawmakers in Virginia can hide from or ignore. Gov. Abigail Spanberger and the General Assembly must finalize a budget deal that holds the data center industry accountable, lowers Virginians’ energy costs...

Anew data center could be built in Chantilly with a power system that’s new to Fairfax County. The proposed development would be powered mainly from fuel cells, which convert natural gas into electricity, rather than relying on energy from the power grid, Fairfax Real Estate Insider first reported.

America doesn’t need a simple yes-or-no debate over data centers. It needs a better civic compact to honestly weigh their benefits and costs. States and communities should welcome this digital infrastructure, but only on terms that protect ratepayers, workers, water and public trust.

In Northern Virginia, the rise of artificial intelligence is reshaping more than the internet. It is also transforming neighborhoods, utility bills, and local water systems as giant data centers spread across Loudoun County's so-called Data Center Alley. As Sierra reported, this is the world's biggest data center hub, and environmental advocates now say another threat deserves more attention: PFAS, the toxic "forever chemicals" that may be tied to how these facilities are cooled.

Many of the details are shielded by non-disclosure agreements with local government agencies and other partners. But Google formally announced its intentions around the data center with a press release last month, and company officials are beginning to discuss the project.

Prince William County’s growing data center industry is attempting to migrate further east along the Va. 234 corridor with three proposed projects – including one that could bring as many as four, 100-foot-tall buildings to the edge of Prince William Forest Park.

On April 22, local advocacy group Friends of Hanover held an Earth Day rally outside the Hanover County Government Building in protest of a new 427-acre data center proposed at the Hanover-Henrico border in the South Anna District.

Somewhere in Virginia, Texas, or Arizona, a data center is being commissioned this month that will draw more power than a small city. The server racks inside will train and run artificial intelligence models for years to come. And the electrons feeding it will, in all likelihood, come partly from natural gas...

Across Southwest Virginia, more and more data centers have been proposed to various localities. One of the larger ones is in Botetourt County, which has garnered controversy from residents. Google purchased the 312-acre parcel of land in 2025...

The Development Authority on Tuesday approved an $800,000 economic development incentive grant for Globalinx’s expansion in Corporate Landing Business Park off Dam Neck Road. The data center facility serves as the connection point between subsea cables that land in Virginia Beach and internet service providers.

Data center developer QTS’ petition to appeal the March 31 Virginia Court of Appeals ruling reaffirming the cancellation of the PW Digital Gateway data center campus still needs to clear procedural hurdles before being heard by the state Supreme Court. Next up, a “writ panel” consisting of three Virginia Supreme Court justices will hear a 20-minute session in late May or early June with two brief arguments from the defense, QTS, for each of the two legal challenges to the Digital Gateway, according to people familiar with the proceedings.

The PJM Interconnection’s rules for assigning regional transmission costs driven by data centers violate the Federal Power Act and will unfairly inflate Marylanders’ electric bills, the Maryland Office of People’s Counsel said in a complaint filed May 7 at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

A new data center has been proposed in Chantilly that would rely on fuel cell technology to convert natural gas into electricity rather than drawing primarily from the power grid. T5 Data Centers will seek a special exception to build a 312,000-square-foot data center...

As Indiana cities see more data centers express interest in setting down roots in the state, local communities and environmental activists are expressing concern about the potential for the new facilities to create local health hazards.