Data centers have become a defining issue in Prince William County, shaping land-use decisions, utility costs, and long-term planning across the region, even as many residents are only now catching up to how large the industry has grown.
Key Takeaways
Date: January 2026
Place: Prince William County, Virginia
- What happened: Data center development has expanded rapidly in Prince William County and across Virginia over the past decade.
- Why it matters: The growth affects electricity rates, water resources, land use, and regional infrastructure shared by millions of residents.
- Who drove the news: County leaders, data center developers, and resident and conservation groups that have pushed for greater oversight.
Full Coverage
Prince William County has emerged as a focal point in Virginia’s data center boom, part of a larger transformation that has turned Northern Virginia into a global hub for digital infrastructure. While data centers quietly support everyday activities like streaming video, online shopping, and artificial intelligence, their physical footprint has become increasingly difficult for local communities to ignore.
The Coalition to Protect Prince William County, formed in 2014, traces its origins to early concerns over undisclosed data center development and the power infrastructure needed to support it. Elena Schlossberg, the coalition’s executive director, said the group was created after a major data center project triggered the need for new high-voltage transmission lines without clear public disclosure.
Over time, what began as opposition to a single project expanded into broader concerns about transparency, infrastructure capacity, and long-term impacts. Schlossberg said the scale of today’s data center campuses far exceeds what county residents were initially told to expect.
Those concerns came into sharp focus with the proposed Digital Gateway project, a massive data center development planned near the Manassas National Battlefield and within the headwaters of a regional drinking water supply. Supporters argued the project would strengthen Prince William County’s role in the global digital economy, while critics raised alarms about power demand, water use, and the loss of open land.
A judge overturned the county’s approval of Digital Gateway in July 2025, finding legal flaws in the approval process. Multiple lawsuits tied to the project remain active, and appeals are continuing into 2026. While the ruling halted the project for now, it did not end the broader debate over data centers in Prince William County.
For many residents, the issue has become personal through rising utility bills and growing concern about grid reliability. Data centers require enormous amounts of electricity, along with substations, transmission lines, and backup diesel generators. Critics argue that those infrastructure costs are increasingly borne by ratepayers rather than developers.
Schlossberg and other advocates have also raised concerns about air quality, noise, and water resources, particularly in communities located near existing or proposed data center campuses. They say the cumulative impact of hundreds or thousands of diesel generators, combined with expanded transmission infrastructure, has not been fully studied.
The debate has moved beyond Prince William County to the state level. Residents from across Virginia have organized annual lobbying days in Richmond to call for stronger oversight, clearer disclosure requirements, and policies that require data center developers to pay for the infrastructure their projects demand.
Supporters of the industry counter that data centers are now a necessary part of modern life and that Virginia’s economy has benefited from their growth. They argue the challenge for lawmakers and local officials is finding a balance between economic development and community impacts.
As data centers continue to expand and legal and policy questions remain unresolved, Prince William County residents are likely to keep hearing about projects like Digital Gateway, even years after initial approvals or court rulings. For those just beginning to follow the issue, the stakes reach far beyond any single development, touching nearly every household connected to the region’s power and water systems.
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This article was created with AI assistance and reviewed by Potomac Local News editors for accuracy and clarity.
