“Prince William County Occoquan District Supervisor Kenny Boddye on Friday called on state leaders to grant local governments explicit authority to defer decisions on high-resource-demand industrial projects such as data centers while officials study water, power and air-quality impacts,” according to a press release from the Occoquan District.
Boddye’s request, which he said he will seek to add to the county’s legislative agenda, comes after Spotsylvania County supervisors voted 4-2 to urge Gov. Abigail Spanberger to enact a statewide data center moratorium so the Commonwealth can study the industry’s future, Fredericksburg Free Press reported.
Boddye’s evolving stance occurs against a backdrop of his own complex ties to the industry: he has received substantial campaign contributions from data center developers and landowners, abstained on the 2023 vote that cleared the way for the now-defunct, massive PW Digital Gateway project, and currently serves as director of government affairs for a development firm marketing a West Virginia site for data centers.
At the same time, he has recently pushed to end by-right data center development in Prince William, supported higher taxes on large electricity users, and joined votes rejecting additional mega-proposals, framing the latest call as a way for localities to balance economic growth with environmental and infrastructure protections rather than choose between them.
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