The state’s Department of Environmental Quality will consider allowing data centers in Prince William, Fairfax, and Loudoun County (the world’s epicenter for data centers) to use generators to feed the power-hungry server farms.
The meeting will take place in DEQ’s Northern Virginia office, 13901 Crown Court, in Woodbridge (near BJs Wholesale Club) at 11 a.m.
From the public notice:
Data center operation relies on the use of large amounts of electricity from the grid. DEQ is concerned that the Counties of Fairfax, Loudoun, and Prince William is an area in which there may not be a sufficient amount of electricity for data centers due to severe, localized constraints in electricity transmission.
A transmission constraint issue exists in the area which may affect the ability to provide enough electricity to data centers through 2025. In particular, the period between March and July 2023 has been identified as a time of potentially acute stress on the transmission capacity of the grid.
In the lead-up to the November 2022 approval of the Prince William Digital Gateway — more than 800 acres next to Manassas National Battlefield Park now earmarked for data center development — residents and public officials were baffled after asking if the county had enough electricity to supply the server farms.
We’ve written more about this story earlier this month. Read it here.
