Putting the Brakes on Data Centers in Virginia, A review of Albemarle County new ordinance proposals

As I stated in my previous blog post, the State of Virginia houses more data centers than any other market in the world. The biggest concentration being in Northern Virginia. More and more citizens are speaking out and restrictions are being added or tightened by some counties but energy consumption and the type of center are regulated at the state level. 

20% of Dominion Energy electricity is used to run Virginia's 586 data centers. By 2040 researchers believe 40% of our electricity will go toward data centers. Energy resources have to be continually developed to meet the ever growing demand. Dominion estimates that in 15 years power demand will increase by 85%. Someone has to pay for the infrastructure build out long before data centers are up and running. In Pennsylvania residents are seeing increases in their power bills with no end in site fueled by energy hungry data centers.

Louisa County recently approved construction of two Amazon data centers. Even more recently, a third Amazon data center was proposed. This county has two operating Lake Anna nuclear reactors that are owned by Dominion Energy. Water to run the data centers will be extracted from the local reservoir that is an active fishing and recreation area that also serves residences and businesses in that area. Citizens voiced their concerns over a third center and Amazon put on the brakes. It is unlikely that this project will disappear, will it be refiled or moved to a nearby county? 

Nearby Albemarle County where I live is currently revising their data center ordinances. Previously falling under the industrial zoning regulations of a minimum of 40,000 square feet footprint "by right" (Special Use Permit can be submitted for larger footprint), with a height limit up to 65'. In addition to the existing industrial zoning, the county is proposing two new zoning district overlay tiers.

Both tiers are defined as "by right" (a rubber stamp streamlined approval process as no impact study or public input is required if they meet general conditions). Tier 1 for centers up to 125,000 square feet footprint "by right" and Tier 2 for centers up to 500,000 footprint "by right" but the sky is the limit on footprint size in either tier by Special Use Permit (subject to review by the Board of Supervisors and a legislative review by federal and state agencies). Typically there are no set rules for Special Use Permit at the local level because it is subject to legislative review. It is unclear if an impact study or public input is even mandated as part of the Special Use Permit. Our Governor just stopped a state level non-partisan reform bill by Veto that was to somewhat regulate data centers, addressing growing citizen complaints. He is leaving it up to each county to define their own rules but electricity parameters are solely controlled at the state level. The President is rolling back environmental regulations for AI / data centers, lessening or eliminating restrictions.

In reviewing the proposed ordinance I posed a few questions to county staff for clarity. A by right Tier 2 data center could be 500,000 square feet x 6 stories high = 3,000,000 square feet. Crypto currency data centers (which uses even more resources to operate) can not be excluded from being allowed as the county does not have regulatory authority. Water is allowed from public sources only and fortunately must be a closed loop or recycled system. Screening, noise and setbacks are similar to other county ordinances but there are plenty of complaints from citizens in other communities that live next door to a data center. There can be no mention of electricity restrictions because there is a State regulatory agency that manages this. "The County may only enact regulations consistent with the authority granted to it by the General Assembly. The County does not have the authority to regulate data centers based on energy consumption, employment, customers served, technology used, or the origin of equipment used to operate the data center." In Georgia (another high buildout data center state) the public service authority has stated that data centers must pay for the upgrades needed, not the general public. There is no mention of clean up if a county is left holding an abandoned building or if the county is responsible for the waste removal.

Why have data centers become problematic. Mainly because they convert massive expanses of land and use vast amounts of resources that are shared with residents (electricity and water) and are not good neighbors (noise, light and air pollution, and create hazardous ewaste). How close is too close to living beside a data center and what does it do to property values? Stafford is still buffering data centers as the planning commission recommends to move them farther away from residents. Chesapeake residents say NO to more data centers! Louisa County just had a data center client back out due to public outcry. Loudon County (the world capital of data centers) and Henrico County just revised their data center ordinance to not have any future "by-right" approvals, all must be reviewed and by Special Use Permit. Fauquier County limits projects to only areas zoned as business parks. Fairfax County recently tightened restrictions on the size, location and design and requires companies to submit a noise study.

Northern Virginia residents are fed up with large Data center development so they are flowing downward into less populated, more scenic and rural areas of the state. Did you know that Smith Mountain Lake "the Lake Tahoe of the East" is owned by a public water utility (AEP) that operates a hydroelectric dam and it is ripe for the picking. AEP in Ohio is trying to get data centers to pre-pay for their share of electricity use because of the massive electricity upgrades that are required before a data center is even built. Someone has to pay for the upgrades to the system, are residents footing the bill?  

Are ready? Are we protected? Can we co-exist? The next public meeting for Albemarle County concerning data centers is the planning commission public meeting on September 23. There is a Board of Supervisors work session on August 6. Citizens can still Ask a questions on the online message board and/or you can leave a comment. You must create an account for your message to display publicly. 

~Rebecca

 

The data on Virginia Data Centers, Coming your way soon

The State of Virginia houses more data centers than any other market (including whole countries) in the world. 586 centers are currently operational but plans for what seems to be an unlimited number with little restrictions are in the works. The new AI push is to build data centers everywhere and anywhere resources can be found to be gobbled up to support them. Our own governor put corporate needs before citizen concerns by stopping a state level non-partisan reform bill that was to FINALLY regulate data centers. Leaving it up to each county to define their own playing rules, if any.

Data centers have become the modern day gold rush as counties reap revenue that seems to be too good to be true. Hosting companies such as Google, Amazon, Facebook, Microsoft, Apple, Digital Realty, and Iron Mountain. Loudoun County is the leader in the state with 300 data centers with 49,000,000 square feet under roof. Loudoun County is just now getting around to restrictions, referring to centers as the Goose that lays the Golden Egg.

It was interesting to me that on a chat group, someone suggested to turn a vacant mall into a data center. That's a fine idea but the modern day data center is frequently massive, dwarfing most malls. The Loudoun county "eco-center" (as our governor refers to Virginia data centers), encompasses an area of 8 pentagons (referred to as a digital city hiding in plain site).

One example is what is becoming a blossoming eco-complex that started with 2 Amazon data centers in Louisa county. Just last week, before the data centers have even been built, Amazon announced the desire to add another data center. In Louisa there are currently 4 proposed data center campuses encompassing 2,600 acres. To look at this another way, this is 1,970 football fields in size. 

Data centers run 24/7 and require massive amounts of electricity and water to cool equipment. Using Louisa as an example, as it happens to be located in the next county over from where I live, Dominion Energy owns the 2 Lake Anna nuclear reactors and will be upgrading that facility to handle electricity for the proposed data center campuses. Water will be routed from the local reservoir that is an active fishing and recreation area that currently is the primary water sources for that county.

A recent study found the data center industry both helps and hurts Virginia. There is no light at the end of the tunnel for data center development in our state which puts a lot of pressure on natural resources and electricity generation. Serious ramping up of all forms of energy production will have to happen to support the growing demand.

This year Dominion Energy is asking for a rate hike that would increase your monthly bill by an average of $21 by 2027. In 2022, the utility delivered 36% of all power to customers by natural gas, 29% by nuclear, 22% by third party purchase, 5% by coal, and 5% from renewables. Their long-term plan to meet the demand is to get energy from every basket available but natural gas, coal, and nuclear plants are main sources of energy. In Albemarle County, Dominion Energy is building a solar farm on our capped Ivy landfill which is a great way to utilize land that can't be used for much of anything else but it is a drop in the bucket.

Why have data centers become problematic. Mainly because they convert massive expanses of land and use vast amounts of resources (electricity and water) and are not good neighbors (noise, light and air pollution, and create hazardous ewaste). Community planners have created electric and water resources based on consumption by residential customers and much smaller business footprints. How close is too close to living beside a data center and what does it do to property values? 1/3 of all data centers in Virginia are near to residential areas. What is the lasting impact to quality of life? I would imagine the answer to the last 2 questions is obvious - NOT GOOD. Given data centers are spreading in our state faster than they can be regulated or even mapped, this should cause serious concern to each and every citizen. Albemarle county where I live is currently revising their data center ordinances. 

Putting greed over community sensibilities and regulations can end up being destructive. Without guardrails and community discourse the goose may leave unsuspecting citizens holding a rotten egg. 

~Rebecca