Virginia: data centers & your electric bill
The numbers residents cite at hearings — grid, water, and regulator contacts for Virginia, from the free GridWatch toolkit.
Subscribe by RSS — moratorium changes and community headlines for Virginia.
As of July 2026 · changes over months · Source: U.S. Data Center Power Map by State — ElectricChoice.com compilation (updated July 2026; CC-BY 4.0). Underlying load research: LBNL 2024 US Data Center Energy Usage Report; rates: EIA
Facility counts vary by directory because each one draws the boundary differently — DataCenterMap lists 44 in Alabama where this table says 35, since it counts small network rooms alongside hyperscale campuses. Cite the TWh figure rather than the facility count when you can; it is the number that speaks to grid impact. Underlying load research is LBNL-2001637 (Dec 2024).
Your regulator
Virginia State Corporation Commission — website · file a complaint
Official state energy data: EIA Virginia electricity profile — generation, prices, and consumption from the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
Pushback already happening in Virginia
| Where | Level | Status | Note | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Loudoun County | Local | Proposed | Board of Supervisors voted 6-1 to direct staff to prepare moratorium options by Sep 15. Legal questions remain about Virginia law's allowance of blanket moratoriums. World's largest data center hub (~46M sq ft constructed or permitted) | Source read 2026-08-13 |
| Chesapeake | Local | Enacted | 8-month pause on data center applications. Council had previously rejected a 350,000 sq ft project in Jun 2025. Planning commission drafting zoning amendments for case-by-case review | Source read 2026-08-13 |
| Front Royal | Local | Enactedexpires soon — 2026-10-04 | 90-day moratorium on land-use applications for data centers, 6-0. Planning Commission drafting language to prohibit data centers in every town zoning district | Source read 2026-08-13 |
| Suffolk | Local | Proposed | Council directed Planning Commission to draft UDO amendment prohibiting data centers in all zoning districts. Applications not being considered during drafting, but formal enactment pending | Source read 2026-08-13 |
| Franklin County | Local | Enactedexpires 2028-08-07 | 2-year moratorium on data centers | Unverified |
As of August 2026 · changes weekly — re-check before citing
Illustrative rather than exhaustive — dozens of localities churn weekly, and this tracks the ones we have read a source for. **Each row carries its own provenance.** Rows showing a verification date link to the ordinance, the enacting body's own page, or a datable report of the vote, and were read on that date. Rows marked *unverified* came from bulk compilation and have not been checked against a primary source — the locality, the year, and the status may all be off. Verify one of those with the town clerk before citing it as precedent. **Expiry is derived, not asserted.** A row with a documented end date flips to *Expired* on its own once that date passes. A time-limited moratorium whose start date was never documented keeps showing as enacted — that is a known gap, not a claim that it is still in force. Moratoriums are also routinely extended, so an expiry date is the earliest it could have ended, not proof that it did.
Case studies
Prince William County, VA — Voters removed the board chair; the courts voided the rezoning
In 2022 a board majority led by Chair Ann Wheeler rezoned more than 2,000 acres of farmland for the Prince William Digital Gateway. On June 20, 2023 Wheeler lost the Democratic primary to Deshundra Jefferson, who had campaigned against large-scale data centers. The board approved the rezoning 4–3 that December regardless — and it was the courts, not the ballot box, that ended it: the rezoning was voided on appeal and a developer withdrew, effectively killing the project. Statewide, Virginia voter support for new data centers fell from 69% in 2023 to 35%. Elections changed who was in the room; litigation changed the outcome.
Known data center campuses in Virginia
| Operator | Location | Tenant | Filing LLC |
|---|---|---|---|
| Northern Virginia | Land-acquisition shells: Jet Stream LLC, Sharka LLC | ||
| Meta | Henrico | Meta | Codename shells: Greater Kudu, Raven Northbrook, Stadion, Wobniar, Pinnacle Mountain |
| Microsoft | Northern Virginia | Microsoft | Project-name / generic 'Holdings LLC'; less consistently codenamed |
| Microsoft | Boydton (Southern Virginia) | Microsoft | Project-name / generic 'Holdings LLC'; less consistently codenamed |
| Amazon (AWS) | Northern Virginia (Loudoun Co.) | Amazon (AWS) | Vadata, Inc. — AWS's build/operating entity on many permits |
⏳ No verification date recorded · changes over months · Source: Operator ownership & filing-LLC naming patterns — compiled from operator releases and county filings, then checked against SEC EDGAR full-text search. Composite, not a single citation: look the entity up yourself before naming it in a filing
Each row carries its own attribution level — first-party rows come from the operator's own site, but colocation and REIT ownership was compiled from trade press and never passed an independent fact-check. Check the attribution column before citing a row.
Every data center already built in Virginia
The campuses above are the ones GridWatch tracks by operator and filing LLC. For the full inventory — street addresses of every existing facility, including the smaller colocation and network sites — DataCenterMap keeps a public directory for Virginia.
Browse the Virginia directory →
Two caveats before you cite it at a hearing: it lists facilities that already exist, so a newly proposed campus will not appear; and it counts a small network room the same as a hyperscale campus, so the facility count is not a measure of power draw or community impact.
What communities in Virginia have won
- Loudoun County (Multiple) — Declined abatements and taxed data centers instead: the FY2027 budget puts them at roughly $1.3B — about 45% of all county tax revenue — on ~4% of commercial parcels. The benchmark for what a jurisdiction with market power can simply refuse to give away Source 1 · verified 2026-08-05
Goochland County — Board of Supervisors
Meets: 1st Tuesday monthly, 2:00 p.m. (public hearings at 6:00 p.m.); 3rd Tuesday reserved for additional meetings · County Administration Building, Board Meeting Room 250, 1800 Sandy Hook Road, Goochland, VA 23063
Public comment: Email comments on any agenda item to BOSCOMMENT@GOOCHLANDVA.US. Meetings stream on the county's YouTube channel. Each member has a published Voting History page.
Source: https://www.goochlandva.us/158/Board-of-Supervisors · as of 2026-07-26
Prince William County — Board of County Supervisors
Meets: See the county's published annual meeting calendar · 1 County Complex Court, Prince William, VA 22192
Public comment: Residents may attend in person or participate remotely. Each supervisor keeps a district office — contacting your own district member directly is more effective than the general line.
Source: https://www.pwcva.gov/department/board-county-supervisors/co · as of 2026-07-26
Chesterfield County — Board of Supervisors
Meets: See the county's published 2026 meeting schedule (Board Meetings page) · Public Meeting Room, 10001 Iron Bridge Road, Chesterfield, VA 23831
Public comment: Regular meetings include public comment periods; see the county's Public Comments page. Public hearing notices are posted for rezoning items.
Source: https://www.chesterfield.gov/1218/Board-of-Supervisors · as of 2026-08-05
Wytheville — Town Council
Meets: 2nd and 4th Monday, 5:00 p.m. · Wytheville Municipal Building, 150 E. Monroe Street, Wytheville, VA 24382
Public comment: See the town's Agendas & Minutes page for the public-comment process for a specific meeting.
Source: https://www.wytheville.org/town-council · as of 2026-08-12
Fairfax County — Board of Supervisors
Meets: 2 Tuesdays per month. · Board Auditorium, Fairfax County Government Center, 12000 Government Center Parkway, Fairfax, VA 22035
Public comment: See the board's published agenda for the public-comment process for a specific meeting.
Source: https://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/boardofsupervisors/board-super · as of 2026-08-12
Loudoun County — Board of Supervisors
Meets: See the board's published meeting calendar. · Board Room, Loudoun County Government Center, 1 Harrison Street SE, Leesburg, VA 20175
Public comment: See the board's published agenda for the public-comment process for a specific meeting.
Source: https://www.loudoun.gov/6221/Phase-1-Project-Plan-for-Data-C · as of 2026-08-12
Chesterfield County — Board of Supervisors
Meets: See the county's published Board of Supervisors meeting calendar. · Chesterfield County Public Meeting Room, 10001 Iron Bridge Road, Chesterfield, VA 23832
Public comment: See the board's published agenda for the public-comment process for a specific meeting.
Source: https://www.chesterfield.gov/datacenters · as of 2026-08-12
Latest Virginia data center news
Lowdown from Loudoun: Virginia official shares data center tips with Maryland audience
Virginia Beach mulls data center moratorium until it can devise regulations
Virginia is developing a piecemeal data center moratorium. The potential impacts are complicated.
West Virginia joins cadre of states enacting data center development plans
Virginia data center boom pushes Dominion deeper into costly power market
Governor Morrisey, Legislative Leaders Announce Unified Plan for Responsible Data Center Development in West Virginia
Video coverage mentioning Virginia
State municipal league: Virginia Municipal League
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