Data Centers
The Fredericksburg City Council approved the FY 2027 budget on May 12, 2026, including approximately 8% increases in water and sewer rates effective July 1, 2026, along with a new two-tier consumption structure designed to ensure high-volume users help fund major infrastructure upgrades.
The changes support more than $110 million in projects while keeping impacts manageable for most typical households.
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By Shirleen Guerra
(The Center Square) – Virginia has yet to finalize a state budget for 2026-27, with negotiations stalled over a major policy dispute tied to the commonwealth’s data center industry.
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“Compass Datacenters will not appeal the most recent court ruling that killed the rezonings underpinning the development,” the company’s attorney said late Tuesday night, Prince William Times reported. “It’s not known whether QTS, the other data center company involved in the project, will attempt an appeal before the Supreme Court of Virginia.”
The decision by Compass likely ends sales contracts that have kept more than 90 property owners in limbo since 2022, including entire neighborhoods along Pageland Lane in rural Gainesville. The Prince William Digital Gateway proposed up to 37 data centers on about 1,760 acres near Manassas National Battlefield Park. Rezonings approved in 2023 were voided by court rulings over public notice failures, and the county has now dropped its own appeal after spending at least $1.7 million in legal fees.
The Stafford County Board of Supervisors received a detailed data center revenue forecast at its regular meeting on April 21, 2026, showing potential net gains of tens of millions of dollars annually by the mid-2030s, while highlighting near-term uncertainties and board concerns about Amazon Web Services (AWS) incentives.
Chief Financial Officer Andrea Light presented the PFM model, which covers only the five approved campuses: Stafford Technology Campus on Eskimo Hill/Route 1, Old Potomac Church near the hospital, Centerport Gateway, Vantage, and Crane’s Corner. Developers have proposed 31 buildings totaling 8.7 million square feet across the sites. The baseline scenario assumes 20 buildings constructed over the 10-year horizon.
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The Potomac River ranks as the most endangered river in the U.S. according to American Rivers’ 2026 list, released this month. The designation is largely driven by rapid, uncontrolled data center expansion in the watershed and by the impacts of a major sewage spill into the river in January 2026.
The Piedmont Environmental Council (PEC) issued a statement on April 16 in response to the report. PEC President Chris Miller stated that the listing underscores the cumulative impacts of data centers on natural resources, including access to clean and abundant water that serves the Washington metropolitan area.
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