People worry data centers are harming Virginia’s air, land, and water.
When Karen Sheehan’s daughter moved away from Northern Virginia to Roanoke, she thought she would be in the country.
But today, Sheehan’s daughter lives near Google’s 312-acre data center development, and Sheehan is part of the growing movement fighting back against the explosion of data centers in Northern Virginia.
Speaking to a packed room on the second floor of the Best Western Battlefield Inn off I-66 in Prince William County on Monday night, her young grandson by her side, Sheehan worried how younger generations would bear the consequences from how data centers are changing Virginia’s air, water, and land, not to mention people’s electric bills.
“Each and every one of us, and all of our neighbors, and all of our relatives, and anyone we know should be stepping up and realizing that there are impacts,” Sheehan said. “Yes, we need the technology, but we don’t need these impacts. We do not need to be giving away all of this money to the biggest data centers across the world.”
“That’s right,” cheered State Sen. Louise Lucas (D-Portsmouth), who was seated nearby and had organized the evening’s event as part of a series of town halls across the state in support of her crusade to make data centers pay their fair share.
“Technology’s not bad—we all benefit from it,” Lucas told reporters on Monday. “But we as government officials have not done a good job in managing the adverse impact, and that’s what we need to be doing.”
Venting concerns
Over the course of about two hours, speaker after speaker took to the mic to vent their concerns about data center development in Virginia, which is home to hundreds of the hulking facilities housing the computers that power the internet.
Lana Crave lives a mile and half from a data center proposal that would stretch across 1,930 acres in rural Gainesville. “It’s scary,” she said of the proposal. Crave worried how data centers, which consume massive amounts of water, could deplete the local water supply.
“We’ve been in drought for a very long time,” Craven said. “The Potomac River is in danger. So, what plans does Virginia have in place to provide clean drinking water for residents when they don’t have any?”
Greg Pirio blamed the noise and air pollution produced by data centers for hurting the quality of life for his community in Loudoun County. Pirio described giving interviews to reporters from other states and other countries looking to cover the local impacts of data centers.
“ They want to learn from Virginia what not to do,” he said. “And I’m glad you’re here because why should we be giving tax breaks to people who behave this way and damage our communities?”
Tax debate
Virginia’s tax break for data centers has become the focus of debate in the contentious negotiations over the state budget.
Democratic Gov. Abigail Spanberger and leaders in the House of Delegates support keeping the tax break in place and forming a commission to study the impact of data centers.
“This proposal creates a clear roadmap for evaluating the impact of the data center industry in Virginia and for reassessing the state’s incentives into the future, with a focus on fairness to ratepayers and the needs of local communities,” Spanberger said in a statement Friday about the House’s proposal.
After first proposing to end Virginia’s tax break for data centers, which ballooned to over a $1 billion in foregone revenue for the state last year, Lucas and her fellow members of the Virginia Senate now support establishing a new impact fee on data centers’ diesel generators.
The fee is forecast to bring the state $582 million in fiscal year 2027 and over $1 billion in fiscal year 2028.
“The governor and the House of Delegates have not been reading the room,” Lucas said on Monday. “They oughta read this room.”
