The inner DC suburbs have become a hot spot for data center construction, but the landscape is expanding. The data center firm PowerHouse applied in February to add a second phase to its campus in Spotsylvania County.
The new development, known as Phase II of Powerhouse 95, would be on Overview Drive, off Mills Drive in Cosner’s Corner in Fredericksburg. It covers about 289 acres and would comprise a seven-building data center, as well as associated properties.
Ground was broken on the first phase of the project in 2024. It’s set to go online next year.
Data Center Opposition
The Friends of the Rappahannock are asking residents to request a public hearing on the project. They say construction would affect 3 acres of wetlands, along with an acre and a half of open water — all in the Massaponax Creek area — which the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality classifies as impaired.
The Massaponax Creek watershed feeds the Rappahannock River. And its ability to filter out impurities and pollution has been diminished by developments including data centers, the Friends of the Rappahannock say.
Just this month, the Spotsylvania Planning Commission approved a special-use permit for Amazon Web Services to build a 555-acre data center in the Lee Hill area.
One resident shouted at the commission: “You’re selling out your neighbors for projections, not actual numbers,” the Fredericksburg Free Press reported. But other residents said they were satisfied with changes that had been made to the application.
State-Level Measures
The controversy comes at a time when the state is taking action to rein in data center development. On September 18, Gov. Abigail Spanberger announced an executive order on data centers and an “accountability framework” for the developments.
“Starting today,” Spanberger said at a press conference, “this industry won’t have carte blanche to play by their own rules in Virginia.”
The measures include prohibitions on secrecy agreements regarding developers; the creation of a tool kit for localities who are negotiating with developers, and steps to offset rate hikes related to increased data center power usage. They stop short of amending $2 billion in data center tax breaks.
The governor also announced the creation of an AI Task Force to recommend legislation regulating artificial intelligence, a key user of data centers. It’s unclear specifically how the new framework will affect either phase of the Powerhouse 95 project.
Feature image, Sepia100/stock.adobe.com
