Disclaimer – this is not an exhaustive list of resources. We hope to continue adding helpful links to this page.
Reports and Studies
- Report to the Governor and the General Assembly of Virginia, from the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission (JLARC) Study | 2024
- This study was commissioned by the Virginia General Assembly in spring 2024 after legislators rejected all proposed legislation proposals to reform the data center industry
- Making AI Less “Thirsty”: Uncovering and Addressing the Secret Water Footprint of AI Models
- a study on data center water usage by Pengfei Li, Jianyi Yang, Mohammad A. Islam, Shaolei Ren
- The Unpaid Toll: Quantifying the Public Health Impact of AI
- A study on the air pollution effects of data center by Yuelin Han, Zhifeng Wu, Pengfei Li, Adam Wierman, Shaolei Ren
- Extracting Profits from the Public: How Utility Ratepayers Are Paying for Big Tech’s Power | March 5, 2025
- A study of ratepayer impacts of data centers by Harvard Law School
- Data centers drive buildout of gas power plants and pipelines in the Southeast | January 29, 2025
- A study by the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA)
- Issued Air Permits for Data Centers, Virginia Department of Environmental Quality
- A searchable database of air permits issued by the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality for data centers, including procedural reports and guidelines
Overview and Impacts: Webinars
- The Local Impact of Data Centers with Julie Bolthouse, Piedmont Environmental Council land use director
- A one-hour webinar presented by the Ohio State University Center for Urban and Regional Affairs, January 24, 2025
- Unpaid Toll: The Health Impacts of Data Centers
- A 90-minute webinar by Nature Forward on unmitigated public health impact of data centers with Shaolei Ren, February 25, 2025
- AI consumes a lot of water — but why?
- A TED talk on Data Center water usage with Shaolei Ren, October 2024
- Your Hour With APA Virginia: Planning for the Infrastructure of the Digital Age
- An hour-long webinar of the Virginia chapter of the American Planning Association, presented by Piedmont Environmental Council Land Use Director Julie Bolthouse, August 28, 2023
News Articles of Interest for Communities and Locality/Municipality Consideration
On Taxes and Tax Revenue
- Data Center Tax Revenue Can Be Hard to Predict | Fauquier Times | Oct. 25, 2022
- City Officials Caught Off Guard as Bank Tenant Sidesteps Millions in Data Center Taxes | Potomac Local News | May 5, 2025
- Secret data center tenant in Manassas not subject to business property taxes | Inside NoVA | May 7, 2025
- Guest Opinon: Banking on data center tax revenue? Wait before cashing that check | Culpeper Times — Opinion | insidenova.com | Culpeper Times | March 18, 2025
- Prince William County spending nearly $500K to fight data center lawsuits | Prince William Times | December 3, 2024
Realities of Jobs Creation
- The AI Data-Center Boom Is a Job-Creation Bust | Wall Street Journal | February 25, 2025 [requires a subscription to view]
On the Electrical Grid
- How Tariffs Could Shock America’s Power System | Wall Street Journal | February 20, 2025 [requires a subscription to view]
On Water Supply
- The surging demand for data is guzzling Virginia’s water | Grist | May 8, 2024
On Air Quality
- How Memphis became a battleground over Elon Musk’s xAI supercomputer | NPR | September 11, 2024
On Noise & Visual Impacts
- Data centers are changing the landscape. Here’s how they may affect rural Virginia | Cardinal News | March 12, 2025
The Importance of Local Zoning
- Northern Virginia has more data centers than anywhere else in the world. Here’s its advice for Southside | Cardinal News | March 17, 2025
Data Center as Bad Actors
- How Memphis became a battleground over Elon Musk’s xAI supercomputer | NPR | September 11, 2024
Power Shortages Impacting the Industry
- Power Shortages Can Lead to “Zombie Data Centers” | Business Insider | October 23, 2025
- Data Centers Face Seven-Year Wait for Power | Bloomberg | August 29, 2024 [requires a subscription to view]