“As a growing number of major data center projects are delayed or derailed by opposition from local residents and elected officials, developers are realizing they need to play politics, and they are beginning to pour more resources into efforts to win hearts and minds,” reports Dan Rabb at BisNow.
In an effort to advocate for policies safeguarding national parks, clean water, and combating climate change, the Virginia Conservation Network, in collaboration with the National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA), is gearing up for the annual 2024 Conservation Lobby Day on Wednesday, January 31.
This significant event aims to unite environmental supporters from across the state, addressing the constant threats faced by Virginia’s national parks, particularly from the proliferation of data centers. The General Assembly is set to consider various bills in 2024 to tackle the impacts of data centers, including rising electricity costs and environmental pressures.
Virginia is home to the world’s largest concentration of data centers, with Northern Virginia hosting over 300 of them. Eastern Loudoun County, known as Data Center Alley, covers approximately 573 acres, while Prince William County is emerging as a hotspot with the recent approval of the PW Digital Gateway campus, featuring 27 centers on 970 acres next to Manassas National Battlefield.
The agenda for the Virginia Conservation Lobby Day is as follows:
– 7:30 am Arrive in Richmond
– 7:45 – 8:30 am Gather at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church (815 E Grace St, Richmond, VA 23219) for coffee, light breakfast, and remarks from legislators
– 8:30 – 11:30 am: Lobby your Delegate and Senator with fellow conservation advocates
– 11:30 – 1:30 pm: Lunch at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church with remarks from agency staff members
– 1:30 – 4:00 pm: Lobby key committee members on data center reform
– 4:00 pm: Return home
Environmental enthusiasts are encouraged to RSVP with NPCA to secure their spot at the event. Additionally, a bus departing from Haymarket will facilitate transportation to Richmond.
The Virginia Mercury reports, “As data centers continue to proliferate across Virginia, the General Assembly this winter is poised to take up a host of bills intended to address their impacts, including increased electricity costs and environmental pressures.”
This Conservation Lobby Day allows citizens to engage with legislators, advocate for environmental action, and specifically address the challenges data centers pose. With Virginia being a global hub for data centers, the outcomes of these lobbying efforts could have far-reaching implications for the state’s environmental landscape.
For more information and to RSVP, visit the NPCA website or contact Karen Sheehan with the Coalition to Protect Prince William at [email protected].
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Delegate Ian Lovejoy (R-22, Bristow) updated his legislative priorities at the end of the first week of the 2024 Virginia General Assembly.
Lovejoy emphasized his focus on two key issues: limiting the siting of data centers near certain areas and addressing potential conflicts of interest among local elected officials involved in land use proceedings.
Siting of Data Centers in Residential Areas:
Lovejoy introduced an amendment to the Code of Virginia, specifically adding a new section to address the siting of data centers. According to the proposed amendment:
– Any local government land use application required to build a data center must be approved only for areas one-quarter mile or more from federal, state, or local parks, schools, and property zoned or used for residential purposes.
The amendment came after the Prince William Board of County Supervisors in 2023 approved a data center complex on 990 acres next to Manassas Battlefield National Park and another next to a densely populated neighborhood at Linton Hall and Devlin roads in Bristow.
Disclosures in Land Use Proceedings:
Lovejoy also proposed amendments focusing on disclosures in land use proceedings.
– Members of the board of supervisors, planning commission, and board of zoning appeals involved in land use proceedings must fully disclose any business or financial relationships with the applicant or title owner of the land in question.
– A disclosure includes relationships within the 12 months before the hearing, and any member with a business or financial interest or a specific relationship shall be ineligible to vote or participate in such cases.
– Penalties, as a Class 1 misdemeanor, are outlined for individuals knowingly and willfully violating these disclosure provisions.is the most severe class of misdemeanor offenses and may include up to 12 months in jail and up to a $2,500 fine.
The proposed amendments aim to enhance transparency in land use proceedings by requiring elected officials to disclose relevant relationships, thereby minimizing potential conflicts of interest.
Lovejoy is serving his first term as a House of Delegates member. He previously served on the Manassas City Council.
The 2024 General Assembly session ends on March 10, 2024.
DeShundra Jefferson, chair at-large of Prince William County’s Board of Supervisors, delivered her first remarks Tuesday, January 9, on the State of the County. She was elected in 2023 and assumed office on January 1.
Jefferson started her remarks by sharing her hopes for the future as she began her tenure as chair. She said she was hopeful for the future of the Board, community, and county.
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“As data centers continue to proliferate across Virginia, the General Assembly this winter is poised to take up a host of bills intended to address their impacts, including increased electricity costs and environmental pressures,” reports Charlie Paullin at The Virginia Mercury. “Virginia is home to the greatest concentration of data centers in the world. While the centers can be found around the state, most are in Northern Virginia, which has more than 300. Eastern Loudoun County, where the facilities cover roughly 573 acres, is known as Data Center Alley, and Prince William is increasingly becoming a hot spot after local officials recently approved a campus of 27 centers that would sit on 270 acres.”
“Local activists and officials are joining hands to oppose Dominion Energy’s efforts to build a new substation and transmission lines near Gainesville to fuel data centers,” reports Ben Peters at Insidenova.com.
We incorrectly posted a photo of Brentsville District Supervisor Tom Gordy in an earlier version of this post.
The Board of Supervisors approved a new tax agreement with Amazon Data Services for the next 25 years to generate nearly $1 billion for county tax coffers.
In exchange for tax breaks, the data behemoth will invest $392 million into the county's utility system, upgrading water infrastructure to handle the demands that data centers place on the system, which require large amounts of water to cool the computers inside. Amazon and other utility customers will enjoy the upgrades the data giant will fund.
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Several Bristow residents are joining forces to fight the controversial Devlin Technology Park data center rezoning in court, reports Cher Muzyk and Jill Palermo at Prince William Times.
