As Virginia's data center industry booms, its demands for land, water, and electricity continue to grow. The National Parks Conservation Association has published a report about how this development threatens the mid-Atlantic region's natural resources. WMRA's Randi B. Hagi reports.
Immense amounts of electricity, electrical grid infrastructure, and water from the Potomac River will be needed to sustain Virginia's data center growth in the coming years, according to energy executives and watershed scientists. These impacts are highlighted in a new report from the National Parks Conservation Association.
The footprints of proposed data centers could physically encroach upon the Prince William Forest Park and Manassas National Battlefield.
BEN ALEXANDRO: But you know, it doesn't just stop at the data centers themselves. You've also got to think about, how are these data centers getting power?
Ben Alexandro is a conservation strategist and the primary author of the NPCA report.
The Richmond Times-Dispatch reported in February that data centers have requested hookups for nearly 70 gigawatts of power from Dominion Energy. Dominion's last annual report states the company owns about 31 gigawatts of generating capacity, which serves 4.1 million customers across Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina. They expect to more than double their generation capacity in the next 20 years, with much of their growth "being driven by the booming data center industry."
ALEXANDRO: Often fossil fuel or coal-powered power plants, and so they are running really high voltage wires to these data centers across hundreds of miles.
Two proposed high-voltage transmission lines that would cut across northern Frederick County, the Appalachian Trail, and other conserved lands are FirstEnergy's "Gore-Doubs-Goose Creek" line and the "Valley North" portion of the Valley Link group of projects, which also includes a separate line cutting through central Virginia.
Then there's the water that many data centers use to cool their servers. The Interstate Commission on the Potomac River Basin reports that data centers currently draw, on average, 14 million gallons of water from the river on the hottest, peak usage days. With unchecked growth, that could balloon to around 170 million gallons.
Compare that to the water that flows out of the Shenandoah National Park and eventually joins the Potomac, which Alexandro estimates at around –
ALEXANDRO: … 212 million gallons of clean water per day that, thanks to all the forests, it's really great at providing that really clean water to those lower communities.
The NPCA's recommendations include data center regulations that would require transparency around water and energy use, and increased oversight that accounts for cumulative regional impacts.
