Know What You're
Up Against

The most thorough overview of what data centers actually look and sound like in rural Virginia. Includes eyewitness accounts of noise, light pollution, and the quote from a 31-year resident: "It's a sort of cross between a plane and a train." Start here if you're preparing to speak at a forum.

The definitive long read on how Virginia became "Data Center Alley." Essential context for understanding why Frederick County's Board vote in June 2025 mattered.

The Prince William County Digital Gateway fight: $24.7 billion, 2,500 acres. Residents packed meetings and helped flip the county board. This is the community organizing playbook in real time.

Covers Google's $9 billion Virginia expansion and what families near existing facilities experience: cracked drywall, sleepless nights. Also covers Governor Youngkin's veto of HB 1601.

A rural Virginia county given no information about noise, water use, or building count. A court had to order their release. Sound familiar?

Documents that Virginia's electric bills rose 13% last year, nearly double the national average. Clean Virginia's executive director: "We have an energy crisis on the horizon."

Documents the nationwide bipartisan backlash. In Q2 2025 alone, opponents blocked or delayed projects totaling $100 billion.

As Northern Virginia saturates, developers push into rural Appalachia. West Virginia passed a law stripping counties of zoning authority over data centers entirely. Also documents the jobs myth: 1,500 construction workers, then 50 permanent employees.

80% of Virginia municipalities with data centers signed NDAs with developers, blocking residents from accessing basic information about what was being built near their homes.

A running tracker of every community that has successfully pushed back. Includes multiple Virginia cases: Richmond ($500M withdrawn), Manassas (Amazon withdrew after 6-1 vote), and Culpeper (426-acre proposal deferred).