Virginia
Data centers transformed Northern Virginia’s economy, but residents are wary of more expansion
Julie and Chris Borneman signed petitions, wrote to their local officials, put a sign in front of their house, and joined a campaign against putting the power line through their property.
The recent expansion of data centers and associated power infrastructure is unprecedented, according to Julie Bolthouse, director of land use at the Piedmont Environmental Council, a local environmental nonprofit. She has worked at the nonprofit for 15 years.
“Prior to 2021 I had only worked on two or three transmission line proposals … Within the last three years, I’ve been a participant in stakeholder meetings for at least a dozen transmission line proposals,” Bolthouse said. “We’ve never seen this many transmission lines at once.”
The Piedmont Environmental Council has been keeping track of all these data centers and associated power infrastructure.
Bolthouse said the power company and state regulator have been approving many of these projects, but there is not enough public information about how much energy the data centers use, and their impact on air and water quality.
“We need transparency so that we can proactively plan ahead,” said Bolthouse. “Right now, what we’re doing is basically like our utility is handing out blank checks that we, the rate payers, are on the hook for paying for.”
To that, Aaron Ruby, spokesperson for Dominion Energy, the largest utility in Virginia, said, “as a public utility we are the most heavily regulated industry in Virginia.”
He said the state regulator reviews the energy costs to make sure everyone is paying their fair share, and the share of energy costs that households pay for has gone down, whereas the share for data centers has gone up.
He also added that Dominion Energy expects the power demand from data centers to nearly quadruple over the next 15 years.
The demand for power has never gone up by so much, so quickly.
Some of the electricity will come from natural gas plants, but Ruby said most of that will be from renewable energy like wind and solar power.
In a statement, Amazon pointed out that their company has been the world’s largest corporate purchaser of renewable energy for four years, and that 90 percent of the energy the company uses comes from renewable sources.
Local officials say data centers saved their economy during the Great Recession of 2007. Buddy Rizer helped bring data centers to Loudoun County in northern Virginia, as the executive director for economic development for the county for the past 17 years.
He said they brought in data centers because during 2007, the local economy took a big hit when the housing bubble burst. The county lost a third of its tax revenue.
“Data centers have such an inordinate return on investment for a community that there’s nothing else that comes close,” Rizer said. “As an example: for every dollar a data center uses in services in our community. We get $26 back. There’s nothing that comes within $24 of that.”
He said the revenue from data centers helped transform their local economy, so they could invest in their schools and roads. He added that the tax revenue from data centers is almost a third of the county’s budget, and completely funds their operating budget.
But Rizer has also heard the concerns about how quickly the industry is growing in their area.
“When you’re in any job 17 years, in your community, you become your job … especially a fairly public facing job like mine,” Rizer said. “I have a lot of conversations at the grocery store or when I’m filling my car with gas.”
He expects the demand for data centers to continue to grow.
Rizer said cloud computing led to a big wave of data centers, then it was the demand for online services during COVID-19. Now, the big driver of growth is artificial intelligence.
He said data centers actually do not have a lot more room to grow in Loudoun County anymore. The more recent proposals for new data centers have been in the surrounding counties, Maryland, states like Kansas and Mississippi, or other countries, like China, India, Japan, and Malaysia.
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Virginia Cavaliers On SI is back with another edition of Wahoos Weekly, a one-stop shop for UVA fans to see the complete schedule of Cavalier sporting events every week, updated with final scores following the conclusion of each event. This week’s Wahoo sports schedule features events for the Virginia men’s soccer, field hockey, volleyball, men’s and women’s basketball, men’s and women’s tennis, wrestling, and rowing teams.
This week’s UVA sports schedule is highlighted by the much anticipated season openers for both the Virginia men’s and women’s basketball teams at John Paul Jones Arena, a couple of big matches for the UVA volleyball team, who faces Virginia Tech on Wednesday and Friday in the Commonwealth Clash, the Virginia wrestling team competing on an aircraft carrier at the inaugural Throwdown on the Yorktown in Charleston, and the UVA field hockey and men’s soccer teams beginning play in their respective ACC Championships.
Click here to see last week’s edition of Wahoos Weekly.
See below for the full schedule of UVA sporting events for the week of November 4-10, including details on how to watch each event. Refresh the page for final scores for each game.
Women’s Basketball: American 68, Virginia 104 | Recap
12:30pm: Field Hockey vs. Syracuse – ACC Quarterfinals, Kentner Stadium (Winston-Salem, NC), ACC Network
6pm: Volleyball vs. Virginia Tech, Memorial Gymnasium (Charlottesville, VA), ACC Network Extra
7pm: Men’s Basketball vs. Campbell, John Paul Jones Arena (Charlottesville, VA), ACC Network Extra
8pm: Men’s Soccer at NC State – ACC First Round, Dali Soccer Field/Track Complex (Raleigh, NC), ACC Network
All day (11/7-11/10): Men’s Tennis – ITA Sectionals, Chewning Tennis Center (Chapel Hill, NC)
All day (11/7-11/10): Women’s Tennis – ITA Sectionals, Chewning Tennis Center (Chapel Hill, NC)
12pm: Volleyball at Virginia Tech, Cassell Coliseum (Blacksburg, VA), ACC Network Extra
5:30pm: Wrestling vs. the Citadel – Throwdown on The Yorktown, U.S.S. Yorktown (Charleston, SC)
8pm: Wrestling vs. Gardner-Webb – Throwdown on The Yorktown, U.S.S. Yorktown (Charleston, SC)
9pm: Women’s Basketball at Oklahoma, Lloyd Noble Center (Norman, OK), SEC Network
8pm: Football at Pittsburgh, Acrisure Stadium (Pittsburgh, PA), ACC Network
10:30am: Rowing vs. Duke, Minnesota, North Carolina – Rivanna Romp, Rivanna Reservoir (Earlysville, VA)
Virginia
College Football Bowl Projections: Where Does ESPN Project Virginia Tech to Play After Losing to Syracuse?
For the second week in a row, the Hokies are one win away from bowl eligibility. Virginia Tech remained at five wins after blowing a 21-3 lead against Syracuse.
Nationally, Virginia Tech is still viewed as a high-level bowl team, with Bill Connelly’s SP+ ranking Virginia Tech as the 27th best team in the nation, after being ranked in SP+’s top-25 the week prior.
Some analysts still have the Hokies in some high-tier bowl games, playing against some CFP contenders and solid Power Four schools. Here’s where Kyle Bonagura and Mark Schlabach of ESPN projected Virginia Tech to play, as of their most recent college football bowl projections.
A matchup between Virginia Tech and Army in the Go Bowling Military Bowl would be an absolute storybook matchup. The Hokies have not beat Army since October of 1905 at West Point. This year, the Army Black Knights are a part of a historic performance by military academies, as at one point in the season, both Army and Navy were 6-0 on the season.
Playing a military academy in a bowl game will always be a honor, but Army is a worthy opponent. No. 18 Army faces off against North Texas this week, and Virginia Tech will be watching their potential bowl opponent carefully.
The Bad Boy Mowers Pinstripe Bowl has plenty of history between the ACC and the Big Ten. Not including Notre Dame’s vacated win against Rutgers in 2013, the ACC hasn’t won the Pinstripe Bowl in twelve years.
Virginia Tech’s last appearance in the Pinstripe Bowl came in embarrasing fashion, as the Hokies lost to the Maryland Terrapins 54-10.
The Wisconsin Badgers have had an interesting season in 2024. Wisconsin knocked off Western Michigan and South Dakota to start the year. From then on, the Badgers’ season turned into a roller coaster. No. 11 Alabama won big at Camp Randall Stadium. Wisconsin took a big road loss to USC, then dominated Purdue at home 52-6. After that, Wisconsin picked up two more blowout wins against Rutgers and Northwestern. In their past two games though, the Badgers have lost by two scores or more to Penn State and Iowa.
Wisconsin is a worthy opponent, but Virginia Tech could certainly pounce on the Badgers’ weaknesses and win this bowl game.
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Virginia Tech Football: 5 Big Takeaways From Virginia Tech’s loss vs Syracuse
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