The Stafford County Planning Commission recommended approval of the Accokeek Center data center campus in Falmouth after a packed hearing that began Aug. 26 and ran past midnight into Aug. 27.
On separate 4-3 votes, the commission recommended that the Board of Supervisors approve a rezoning with proffers, and a conditional use permit for the substation.
The family that has run Belvedere Plantation for nearly six decades went to Facebook this week to speak for itself.
The message was meant to be clear. The Fall Harvest Festival still opens Sept. 12. Field trips, the corn maze, and the pumpkin patch are not canceled. Nothing about this season changes. The Fulks family said it wanted customers to hear that from them, not from the rumor mill.
After a hearing that ran past midnight, members kept data centers inside the Technology Overlay District — and left a $23.4 million tax projection on the table.
City Council voted 7–0 early Wednesday to deny a rezoning that would have put two data center buildings on the Hylton tract along Interstate 95, then voted 7–0 again to deny a special use permit that would have raised those buildings from 50 feet to 75 feet.
“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.
Virginia’s State Corporation Commission has directed Dominion Energy to return this fall with proposed changes that could shift more transmission infrastructure costs to data centers and other large electricity users, The Center Square reported. The July 31 final order gives the company 90 days to file amendments to its line-extension policy and 120 days to update regulators on a broader approach for assigning those costs when large-load customers drive the need for new grid infrastructure.
The directives were issued as part of Dominion’s annual Rider T1 transmission cost recovery case, with approved rates set to take effect Sept. 1. First-year Democratic Gov. Abigail Spanberger called the decision a victory for ratepayers, saying it ensures data centers pay the full cost of the transmission infrastructure their developments require—an issue of particular local importance given Northern Virginia’s dense concentration of data centers and the potential impact on residential electric bills.
Two state senators are asking Gov. Abigail Spanberger to call a special session of the General Assembly after a newly released state report found groundwater supplies in eastern Virginia may not support major new withdrawals under current regulations, The Center Square reported. Sens. Richard Stuart, R-King George, and Russet Perry, D-Loudoun, said the Department of Environmental Quality study shows “virtually no capacity” in the Coastal Plain aquifer for large new uses such as data centers and was released only after the 2026 session had adjourned.
The bipartisan letter notes ongoing strain already appearing in western Loudoun and northern Fauquier counties and urges lawmakers to act on the report’s recommendations for stronger permitting rules, improved monitoring, and tying local development more closely to groundwater availability rather than waiting until the 2027 session.
– 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.
