Purple pipe water system to serve data centers expected in 3 years

Stafford County held a public meeting about data centers on Tuesday, August 29, 2023.

There are multiple server farm campuses slated for the county. The meeting was an opportunity for elected leaders and planning commissioners to discuss the projects and answer questions from residents.

The meeting was well attended, although it appeared there were more county staff members than residents in the audience. The meeting was billed as a panel discussion. Still, it was more of a town hall with the county representatives presenting basic facts about what data is and how they operate, along with identifying their utility needs.

County officials could not or would not answer specific questions and would defer to the applicants by suggesting the citizens in the office should hang around after the meeting to speak with the applicants directly, who were in the back of the meeting room with displayed documents for their project.

Stafford County Administrator Randy Vossburg, Acting Director Planning and Zoning Kathy Baker, Acting Assistant Director Planning and Zoning Chris Edwards,  County Utility, Water representative Mike Zuraf, and a representative from Dominion Energy were panelists at the event.

During the event, the panelists said data center developers want to build in the county because of the suitable land, proximity to dark fiber for connectivity, the county’s educated workforce, and state and local tax incentives.

The tax revenue generated by server farms is significant, said panelists. An average data center campus of 250,000 square feet can generate $3.7 million in annual tax revenues as compared to the Stafford Marketplace shopping center in North Stafford (the county’s most successful shopping center in history), which generates $3.2 million in annual tax revenue.

Data centers use large amounts of electricity to power the internet servers. They also use vast quantities of water to cool the servers.

Stafford has proposed to build a reuse water system, known as purple pipe water, that would allow the new data centers to use water processed from the county’s waste treatment facility as cooling water. That water is then sent back to the treatment plant, reprocessed, and returned piped out to streams and creeks.

County officials estimate the new system will take three years to build. This will present a challenge for operators that will open before this system is in place, requiring them to use potable water sources until that system is online.

The county has toured sites in other jurisdictions, like neighboring Prince William County, which has seen an explosion of server farms and has spoken with counterparts in surrounding counties to gain better insight.

Stafford County is in the process of updating the comprehensive plan and zoning ordinance and potentially creating a new use group to better set the standards for these data center projects in the future.

Dominion Energy will build new substations to meet the increased power demand. A spokeswoman said that these new distribution points are not dedicated to data centers and must serve another user as well.

There will be additional public hearings for all the projects presented; these are not approved now. Any change of use, zoning, or proffers will require a public hearing.

As part of the plan, the county will focus on how much sound is produced by data centers, vibration, landscaping and buffers, surrounding land uses, building design, visibility, and traffic. Data Centers have low staffing numbers, often 10 to 15 people for three shifts, seven days a week.

Data centers are allowed by right in M1, M2, RBC, and B2. Data centers require 30 to 60 megawatts of power. Requests are filed via Dominion, which plans to add capacity as needed, including new transmission lines. Officials said the latest data centers will not affect the existing power grid.

During the meeting, officials highlighted three proposed data center campuses in the county.

Potomac Church Tech Center

• Located south of the hospital near the water tower.
• 50-acre site with new substation to be built on site by Dominion
  Zoned B2 Commercial has restrictions that may require rezoning or a special exception.
• It is located in the Urban Service Area, which will allow for county water connections.
• Two two-level data centers of 534,000 square feet, 62 feet high, to achieve the needed 30’ floor-to-floor heights.

Stafford Tech Campus

• Located on Eskimo Hill Road near the landfill.
• 524-acre site with new substation to be built on site by Dominion.
• Zoned A1 is presently located in the Urban Service Area, which will allow for county water connections. The applicant is looking to rezone for industrial use.
• Multiple two and three-level data centers of 5.5M square feet, max height of 105 feet high to achieve the needed 30’ floor-to-floor heights.

Pemberton Tech Center

• Located near CenterPoint Parkway.
• 52-acre site with new substation to be built on site by Dominion
  Zoned B2 presently, also located in the Urban Service Area, will allow for county water connections. The applicant is looking to rezone it for industrial use.
• Three two-level data centers of 562,000 square feet, a maximum height of 65 feet to achieve the needed 30’ floor-to-floor heights.