PRINCE WILLIAM COUNTY, Virginia — Two of the largest data center proposals in the country were defeated in less than a week in Virginia’s fastest-growing data center market, as residents and local political officials increasingly push back against the hulking, energy- and water-guzzling facilities.
Late Tuesday, the Prince William County Board of County Supervisors declined to change zoning rules to allow a sprawling Dulles South Innovation Center data center complex to proceed on what is now 1,940 acres of homes and small farms. The decision was made at the end of a five-hour-long meeting where leaders heard more than 100 comments from community members on both sides of the issue.
The proposed megaproject would have been located just north of the planned site of the Digital Gateway, a 37-building complex abutting the Manassas National Battlefield Park in Prince William County. The Board of County Supervisors had approved the Gateway three years ago, but it officially died last weekwhen its last developer, QTS, withdrew from a lawsuit challenging the project that was set to go to the state Supreme Court.
The double defeat is a major victory for community activists in a county where officials have seldom rejected the supercomputing facilities. But it remains to be seen whether Tuesday’s vote marks a turning point for growth in the world’s largest data center hub, or if activists will face a game of whack-a-mole as developers continue to aggressively seek access to the region’s lucrative fiber optic highway.
