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.
QTS has withdrawn its final appeal to the Virginia Supreme Court, effectively terminating the proposed Prince William Digital Gateway data center campus along Pageland Lane near Manassas National Battlefield Park.
Chair Deshundra Jefferson, At-large, Prince William Board of County Supervisors, advanced a directive during the June 23 Board of Supervisors meeting calling for development of a comprehensive data center decommissioning policy framework amid ongoing concerns about long-term infrastructure impacts.
The directive instructs the county executive and staff to create guidelines addressing planning, environmental protection, infrastructure removal and recycling or disposal, security, workforce impacts, and site redevelopment. It builds on prior board actions, including Resolutions 21-327 and 23-111, which initiated amendments to the zoning ordinance and the Design and Construction Standards Manual related to data centers. Staff work should draw from the 2040 Comprehensive Plan’s environmental chapter, the 2025-2028 Strategic Plan, and the Community Energy and Sustainability Master Plan, with recommendations on timelines, fiscal impacts, and other considerations for board review. The county attorney’s office will examine legal issues.
The Prince William County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday deferred action on a special use permit for the proposed Vint Hill Switching Station, in response to resident concerns and requests for more information about the technology and broader infrastructure impacts.
The project involves replacing an existing switching station (online since 2018) on an approximately 23-acre A-1-zoned site within a 1960s-era transmission corridor. The new gas-insulated switchgear (GIS) facility would be co-located with a NOVEC substation and a Reed Energy battery storage facility. It aims to meet North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) reliability standards projected as early as 2027 due to substantial load growth, largely from data centers and other developments in the Gainesville and Manassas areas.
Lynn Forkell Greene, a former Manassas City Council member and candidate in the November 2026 election, raised pointed concerns about data centers and infrastructure strain during public comment at the Manassas City Council meeting on June 22, directly linking the issues to recent power outages and broader regional pressures.
Greene told council members she is “not against data centers, but I am against the amount of data centers we have and passing those costs on to the residents.” She highlighted demands for water, electricity, and land, questioned the expiration of tax exemptions, and called for stronger collaboration between local officials and state legislators to develop a coordinated response. She urged a localized plan rather than simply asking residents to cut usage amid ongoing grid and substation frustrations.
