– Info from Sue Nelson Sargeant
Residents, activists, and local officials gathered Tuesday, July 21, for Community Forum #1 on data centers in the Fredericksburg area. The event, titled “Are We the New DATA CENTER Alley?”, featured a video screening, discussion, and Q&A.
Prince William County residents protested Thursday against Dominion Energy’s proposed 6.5-mile, 230-kilovolt transmission line connecting the Nokesville Substation to a planned Bristow Switching Station, WTOP reported. Demonstrators gathered outside an open house at Patriot High School in Nokesville, holding signs calling to “Bury the Lines” and “Save Our Rural Land,” while local officials and state senators voiced opposition to the project’s impact on private property and rural character.
The Coalition to Protect Prince William County organized the event amid growing concerns that data centers and development are driving the need for new infrastructure; Dominion said the line is required for reliable service as the Innovation Park area expands, but noted burying the line is not feasible due to bedrock and existing utilities.
Federal officials are considering a land swap that would allow a developer to build at least four data centers next to Prince William Forest Park in close proximity to Quantico Creek, Prince William Times reported. The proposal would exchange 73 acres of wetlands owned by Highland Digital for 36 acres of federally owned parkland along the park’s western border.
Conservation groups warn the project could harm water quality in one of Northern Virginia’s most pristine streams, while local leaders including Board Chair Deshundra Jefferson have expressed skepticism about any data center construction inside park boundaries.
The shortfall and continued supply-demand imbalance carry particular weight for Northern Virginia, where data center expansion is a primary driver of rising load across the 13-state PJM region that includes the commonwealth. PJM is advancing measures to clear its interconnection queue, accelerate high-priority generation, and develop flexible connection frameworks for large users in an effort to restore balance and limit cost pressure on everyday customers.
“The Prince William County Planning Commission voted earlier this week to recommend that the county stop allowing data centers to build ‘by right,’ or without county approval – a move that could keep Jiffy Lube Live and other key areas from being swallowed up by computer server farms,” Prince William Times reported. The commission voted 5-2 to recommend shrinking the data center opportunity zone overlay district from about 9,700 acres to 3,500 acres, requiring special use permits for new projects and removing sites like Jiffy Lube Live and planned school land from by-right development.
This proposal, advanced by local leaders including Board Chair Deshundra Jefferson and Supervisor Tom Gordy, addresses long-standing concerns over skyrocketing land values and data center proliferation in Northern Virginia, with 148 facilities already built, under construction, or planned in the county. Supervisors are expected to consider the zoning text amendment in September.
InsideNova reported that the Prince William Board of County Supervisors unanimously approved a resolution eliminating the “blue” and “light blue” routes for Dominion Energy’s Nokesville to Bristow 230 kilovolt transmission line project across county property. The board stated it does not support granting Dominion access to county easements for Routes 5 and 12.
The decision, praised by Brentsville District Supervisor Tom Gordy, protects areas like Broad Run Linear Park’s tree preserve and reflects strong community advocacy from neighborhoods including Braemar and Victory Lakes. Dominion Energy confirmed the blue route’s elimination, with the State Corporation Commission set to make the final call and a community meeting scheduled for July 23 at Patriot High School.
A family cemetery on a site in central Stafford has halted progress on a data center development. On July 7, 2026, the Stafford County Board of Supervisors voted 4-3 to defer rezoning and conditional use permit applications for the Potomac Creek Campus project pending an archaeological investigation and report.
The deferral includes a time extension to October 31. It followed public comments and board discussion on the need to address the cemetery before land disturbance.
Following hours of public debate, the Prince William County Board of Supervisors voted on July 7, 2026, to deny a Comprehensive Plan Amendment that would have paved the way for the Dulles South Innovation Center (also referred to as Dulles Cloud South or Dulles Innovation South), a data center campus proposed for the Gainesville District.
The decision comes days after the death of the Prince William Digital Gateway project, halting another industrial push in western Prince William County amid concerns over infrastructure, character, and quality of life.
The Prince William Board of County Supervisors will vote Tuesday on whether to initiate a comprehensive plan amendment that could allow one of the largest data center campuses in county history.
The request, filed as a Comprehensive Plan Amendment known as the Dulles South Innovation Center, was submitted by Sanders Lane Assemblage I LLC. It asks the Board to reclassify approximately 252 parcels totaling about 1,940 acres in the Gainesville Magisterial District from Agriculture and Forestry and Mixed-Use Hamlet designations to Industrial.
