Report highlights community pushback stalling $64 billion in data center development nationwide
A representative for the Data Center Coalition speaks in opposition to a bill on data centers with Virginia Del. Josh Thomas (D-Prince William) and labor union representatives behind her. (Photo by Charles Paullin/Inside Climate News)
As Elena Schlossberg of Prince William County, Virginia sees it, the community effort to fight the richest companies in the world seeking to build data centers began about a decade ago when opposition coalesced in the early days of the industry's development.
Then, a couple of years ago, when people began to learn much more about the warehouse-like server farms proliferating at double the earlier rate, the fight strengthened with a meeting in Warrenton.
'That was where we all just started saying, 'OK, in order to fight this behemoth, we have to have some organizational process,'' Schlossberg said. 'We have to be able to communicate. We have to be able to support each other. We have to have a clearinghouse for all the information.'
Schlossberg's group, the Coalition to Protect Prince William County, about 35 miles southwest of the nation's capital, teamed up with several other groups, including the Piedmont Environmental Council, the Sierra Club and the National Parks Conservation Association, and met in one of the areas facing development pressure that could now triple in the state. They formed the Virginia Data Center Reform Coalition.
Such community opposition is the focal point of a recent report by Data Center Watch, a research organization tracking data center opposition. A key finding: '$64 billion in U.S. data center projects have been blocked or delayed by a growing wave of local, bipartisan opposition.'
'What was once quiet infrastructure is now a national flashpoint — and communities are pushing back,' the report says. 'This report highlights political risks and local opposition as frequent factors in data center project delays or cancellations, including community resistance, environmental concerns, and zoning issues.'
As data center development explodes, the industry has faced particular challenges in Virginia, its global epicenter. Some $900 million in projects in the state have been blocked, and $45.8 billion in projects have been delayed. Yet, environmental advocates say few protections have been put in place.
At the state level, dozens of bills were introduced in the Virginia General Assembly this year to enact development safeguards, but only a symbolic one about utility costs was signed into law by Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin.
Josh Levi, president of the Data Center Coalition, a trade group representing many of the tech companies developing projects in Virginia, said the group is 'committed to working collaboratively with local officials, policymakers, and regulatory bodies at every level.
'Data center companies site projects where they are permitted under local zoning ordinances, rules, and regulations, which are developed by local leaders representing their communities,' Levi said. 'The industry seeks to work collaboratively with local officials to minimize community impacts, which often includes participating in town halls and other community and public engagement opportunities.'
The locations of projects getting blocked or delayed are mostly centered in the Northern Virginia suburbs and exurbs of Washington, where the internet began. The region now serves a vast federal government, defense and intelligence complex.
A couple other projects highlighted in the report branch out into the Northern Neck, south of the Potomac River, and outside Richmond. Virginia is home to 13 percent of the world's data center capacity, while 70 percent of the world's internet traffic moves through computers in the state.
One case study in the report highlighted the effort by Schlossberg's group, the Manassas Battlefield Trust and others to stop the $24.7 billion Digital Gateway development of a campus with 37 data centers in Prince William County near the Manassas National Battlefield Park. Another is the Bren Pointe residential community in Fairfax County, fighting a $165 million hyperscale project that would need transmission lines and a five-acre substation 60 feet from the boundary of a townhome complex.
In another project in Warrenton, proposed by Amazon with an undetermined development cost, hundreds of people, including actor Robert Duvall, attended and spoke in opposition, according to FauquierNow. Legal challenges have stalled the town council's approval of the project, and during that period, council members who supported it have been voted out of office.
The report noted that Republican elected officials made up 55 percent of those critical of projects, expressing concerns over the use of tax incentives. Democrats made up 45 percent of those opposing projects, largely over environmental concerns.
But many elected officials are approving data centers.
'What will it take for people in positions of power to make different choices?' Schlossberg said. 'As plain as the nose on my face, data centers are impacting the integrity of our water and our air and our communities and our reliable, affordable electricity.'
Ann Wheeler, former chair of the Board of Supervisors in Prince William County, declined to comment on why she lost her Democratic primary race for re-election, but stood by her choices to support the industry in today's digitally driven society.
The environmental concerns used 'misinformation' as part of a campaign of BANANA, or Build Absolutely Nothing Anywhere Near Anyone, she said, and supporting the facilities' construction meant union jobs and hundreds of millions of dollars in local revenue to support social services her party has traditionally aligned with.
'They'll go in somewhere,' Wheeler said, adding her county had resources for responsible planning. 'I would rather have that tax revenue in Virginia.'
The report did not feature the opposition to a proposed data center in Pittsylvania County. There, community pushback and a report commissioned by the Southern Environmental Law Center, which highlighted the health effects from on-site, fossil fuel-powered generation equipment, led to the Board of Supervisors rejecting a needed rezoning application, effectively killing the project. The report included other case studies of successful data center opposition in Indiana, Texas and Arizona.
Virginia's legislative research arm, the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission, issued a report in December that comprehensively examined the costs of data center development. It found that data-center energy demand would roughly triple from 2023 to 2040 if development went unconstrained. Even so, the legislative protections proposed this year failed to make it across the finish line.
Youngkin vetoed a bill that would have had localities require a description of substation needs and a study on the noise the facilities close to homes and schools generate, which can come from their air conditioning units, and onsite power generators. House Democrats killed a requirement for state regulators to review data center power contractsto ensure that electricity generation and transmission lines could support the need.
One change that did pass requires the State Corporation Commission, which regulates utilities, to review cost allocations for data center projects between consumers and the center operators. The commission already had that authority.
One Republican lawmaker, Del. Ian Lovejoy of Prince William County, pushed for ways to have the industry pay for the electric grid upgrades it necessitates. But debate on the bills married business and labor union interests, which 'usually are opposed to one another,' Lovejoy said. 'When those two groups agree on something, [there are] very difficult headwinds.'
The General Assembly was also leery of interfering with local land use decisions in an election year, Lovejoy said.
All 100 delegates are up for election this year, along with the governor. Democrats control the chamber 51-49. The state Senate, also controlled by Democrats, 21-19, has elections in two years. A similar debate driven by community opposition to new solar projects also took place this year in the legislature.
Community opposition to data centers, Lovejoy said, 'is going to affect more and more people when they build data centers directly next to houses. That's the cautionary tale. Look at Loudoun [County], look at Prince William. Don't build them next to schools, don't build them next to houses. Make sure they're set back properly, or you're going to have the same issues that we're having.'
Schlossberg said members of her group traveled a couple of hours down to Richmond one early morning during the legislative session earlier in the year. They were there to lobby for the swath of data-center bills as part of the group's increasing battle at the local, state and federal level that is costing the industry money and creating a community of opponents.
'I think it's important to really talk about the building of community,' Schlossberg said. 'In a digital world, I think we have seen people who have never felt lonelier. And I think that's been a really important positive outcome, is that people connect.'
This article originally appeared on Inside Climate News, a nonprofit, non-partisan news organization that covers climate, energy and the environment. Sign up for their newsletter here.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
San Francisco Chronicle
2 hours ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
Former S.F. Mayor London Breed reveals her post-City Hall career plans
Former San Francisco Mayor London Breed has been quiet about her professional plans since she left office in January, but that's starting to change. The Aspen Policy Academy announced Wednesday that Breed and G.T. Bynum, the Republican former mayor of Tulsa, are its first bipartisan 'civic innovation' advisers-in-residence. The academy, a Bay Area-based operation of the Washington, D.C. think tank Aspen Institute, said Breed and Bynum will spend six months mentoring fellows on policy projects, representing the academy at events and working on projects about policy subjects of their choosing. It's not a full-time job, though it does come with a stipend, and Breed is believed to be exploring other unspecified career opportunities as well. Still, the academy's announcement provided the first public indication of how San Francisco's former mayor is spending some of her time following 12 years as an elected official in the city. 'This program is about more than learning how government works — it's about inspiring a new era of civic leadership,' Breed said in a statement released by the academy. Aspen Institute CEO Dan Porterfield said in a statement that mayors 'bring distinctive insights to the work of policymaking given their proximity to the people and communities they serve.' Breed and Bynum 'will be an invaluable resource to future policy leaders,' Porterfield said. The Aspen Institute has connections to Bloomberg Philanthropies, the charitable organization tied to former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg. He was one of Breed's top benefactors when she ran for reelection last year. Breed also appointed a former Bloomberg staffer to the board of supervisors during her final weeks in office. Breed was elected mayor in 2018 and served in the role for more than six years, until she was unseated in November by Daniel Lurie. A native of the city who grew up in public housing in the Western Addition, she was the first Black woman mayor of San Francisco. Her tenure at City Hall was marked by a series of overlapping crises, including the pandemic, which hurt the city's economy and upended the agenda on which she campaigned. Breed won praise for her early response to COVID-19, but her tenure quickly became dominated by public outrage over rampant drug use on city streets and record overdose deaths driven by the rise of fentanyl. As downtown offices emptied out, major retailers fled Union Square and viral videos of brazen property crimes spread online. San Francisco's reputation took a nosedive, further complicating Breed's fight for another term. Her reelection campaign last year centered around a hopeful message, pointing to a drop in reported crime and other developments as evidence that she was leading San Francisco out of its pandemic doldrums. But Lurie, a political outsider who'd never held elected office before, ultimately defeated her by 10 points
Newsweek
3 hours ago
- Newsweek
LA Mayor Rips JD Vance for Calling Senator Padilla 'Jose': 'How Dare You'
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. Los Angeles Democratic Mayor Karen Bass ripped Vice President JD Vance on Friday after he referred to Democratic U.S. Senator Alex Padilla as "Jose." Newsweek reached out to the office of Bass for additional comment Friday night. Why It Matters Republican President Donald Trump has prioritized immigration control as a key pillar of his second administration. The president campaigned in 2024 on the promise of mass deportations and appointed Tom Homan as his administration's border czar to execute his agenda. Protests broke out this month in Los Angeles in reaction to numerous U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids in the area. Trump sent National Guard troops and U.S. Marines to Los Angeles amid the strife, against the wishes of California Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom. The move was ultimately reversed by a judge, restoring Newsom's control over the state's Guard forces. What To Know Kristi Noem, secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), scheduled a news conference in Los Angeles last week regarding the ongoing protests, and Padilla, a California Democrat, was in attendance. Video footage from the incident showed Padilla pushed to the ground and handcuffed outside the door while attempting to speak to Noem during the conference. Noem stopped speaking for a brief moment during the commotion, then immediately continued. The DHS said she met with Padilla for 15 minutes after the gathering. Vance on Friday landed in Los Angeles amid the Trump administration's ramped up ICE raids in the city. While speaking to reporters, he was asked a question in reference to Padilla's forced removal from Noem's briefing. "The New York Times just did a story" about lawmakers who "keep getting handcuffed, suggesting that ... the Trump administration is cracking down on Democrats," a reporter said. "Can you comment on that?" "Well, I was hoping Jose Padilla would be here to ask a question, but unfortunately, I guess he decided not to show up because there wasn't the theater," the vice president said. "And that's all it is. I think everybody realizes that's what this is." Bass afterward called out Vance, saying, "Mr. Vice President, how dare you disrespect our senator. You don't know his name," Bass questioned. "But yet you served with him before you were vice president and you continue to serve with him today, because the last time I checked, the vice president of the United States is the president of the U.S. Senate." Bass continued, "You serve with him today and how dare you disrespect him and call him 'Jose.' But I guess he just looked like anybody to you. Well, he's not just anybody to us. He is our senator." When asked about the incident, a Vance spokesperson previously told Newsweek that "He must have mixed up two people who have broken the law." Bass has been a stanch critic of the Trump administration amid the ICE raids throughout the City of Angels and vowed to stand in solidarity with immigrant communities in her city. The mayor has also called for peaceful protests and condemned any violence in reaction to immigration initiatives set in motion by the White House. She also set a curfew for a portion of downtown Los Angeles amid the ongoing unrest. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass speaks at a candlelight vigil on June 10 in Los Angeles. (Photo by) Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass speaks at a candlelight vigil on June 10 in Los Angeles. (Photo by) What People Are Saying Newsom on X, formerly Twitter, on Friday: "JD Vance served with Alex Padilla in the United States Senate. Calling him 'Jose Padilla' is not an accident." Padilla posted to X on Friday: "I asked a question—and ended up in handcuffs. If this is how the Trump administration treats a U.S. Senator in broad daylight, imagine what they're doing to immigrants behind closed doors. We cannot stay silent. We will not back down." California Democratic Senator Adam Schiff wrote on X Friday: "JD Vance served alongside Alex Padilla, and knows better. He's taking this cheap shot to distract from the real fear and havoc this Administration is creating. It's pathetic." What Happens Next It is believed that the Trump administration will continue executing his campaign promise of mass deportations throughout the country.
3 hours ago
Rhode Island lawmakers pass bill to ban sales of assault weapons
PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Rhode Island's Democratic-controlled state House on Friday approved legislation that would ban the sale and manufacturing of many semiautomatic rifles commonly referred to as assault weapons. The proposal now heads to the desk of Democratic Gov. Dan McKee, who has said he supports assault weapons bans. If the bill is signed into law, Rhode Island will join 10 states that have some sort of prohibition on high-powered firearms that were once banned nationwide and are now largely the weapon of choice among those responsible for most of the country's devastating mass shootings. Gun control advocates have been pushing for an assault weapons ban in Rhode Island for more than a decade. However, despite being a Democratic stronghold, lawmakers throughout the country's smallest state have long quibbled over the necessity and legality of such proposals. The bill only applies to the sale and manufacturing of assault weapons and not possession. Only Washington state has a similar law. Residents looking to purchase an assault weapon from nearby New Hampshire or elsewhere will also be blocked. Federal law prohibits people from traveling to a different state to purchase a gun and returning it to a state where that particular of weapon is banned. Nine states and the District of Columbia have bans on the possession of assault weapons, covering major cities like New York and Los Angeles. Hawaii bans assault pistols. Democratic Rep. Rebecca Kislak described the bill during floor debates Friday as an incremental move that brings Rhode Island in line with neighboring states. 'I am gravely disappointed we are not doing more, and we should do more," she said. "And given the opportunity to do this or nothing, I am voting to do something.' Critics of Rhode Island's proposed law argued that assault weapons bans do little to curb mass shootings and only punish people with such rifles. 'This bill doesn't go after criminals, it just puts the burden on law-abiding citizens,' said Republican Sen. Thomas Paolino. Republican Rep. Michael Chippendale, House minority leader, predicted that if the legislation were to become law, the U.S. Supreme Court would eventually deem it unconstitutional. 'We are throwing away money on this," he said. It wasn't just Republicans who opposed the legislation. David Hogg — a gun control advocate who survived the 2018 school shooting in Parkland, Florida — and the Rhode Island Coalition Against Gun Violence described the proposed ban as the 'weakest assault weapons ban in the country.' 'I know that Rhode Islanders deserve a strong bill that not only bans the sale, but also the possession of assault weapons. It is this combination that equals public safety,' Hogg said in a statement. Elisabeth Ryan, policy counsel at Everytown for Gun Safety, rejected claims that the proposed law is weak. 'The weakest law is what Rhode Island has now, no ban on assault weapons,' Ryan said. 'This would create a real, enforceable ban on the sale and manufacture of assault weapons, just like the law already working in Washington state, getting them off the shelves of Rhode Island gun stores once and for all.' Nationally, assault weapons bans have been challenged in court by gun rights groups that argue the bans violate the Second Amendment. AR-15-style firearms are among the best-selling rifles in the country. The conservative-majority Supreme Court may soon take up the issue. The justices declined to hear a challenge to Maryland's assault weapons ban in early June, but three conservative justices — Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch and Clarence Thomas — publicly noted their disagreement. A fourth, Brett Kavanaugh, indicated he was skeptical that the bans are constitutional and predicted the court would hear a case 'in the next term or two.'
