Leesburg, Virginia (DC News Now) — In a late-night vote after hours of public hearings, the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors voted 5-4 to block a controversial data center proposal.
If passed, the plan would allow for the construction of a 2.9 million square foot data center on 112 acres of land adjacent to Belmont Ridge Road. Based on current real estate zoning restrictions, we can currently build approximately 1.3 million square feet of data centers.
Before the vote, opponents of the plan rallied in front of the Loudoun County Government Center, raising concerns that the power grid would be strained if the county allowed construction of an additional 2.9 million square feet of data center.
According to the Loudoun County Economic Development Authority, the county already has more than 30 million square feet of operating data centers, earning it the nickname “Data Center Capital of the World.”
Last year, DC News Now learned through a Freedom of Information Act request that Loudoun County's data center tax assessment jumped from $146.9 million in 2016 to $663 million in 2022.
“We can't power the data centers that we have today, and it seems irresponsible to change land-based zoning to increase the number of data centers for this particular use,” said John Love, chairman of Loudoun's Future. Grove said at the rally.
When a new rezoning was proposed and the scope of the project expanded, the applicant gained more environmental protections and gained some support. This included protecting nearby Goose Creek and solar panels.
“This is the best, greenest, most sensitive application we have ever received,” Supervisor Kristen Umstadt said of her support for the plan. I mentioned it when explaining.