With the explosion of AI, the demand for data processing power is growing exponentially, sparking debate over the growth of data centers nationally and regionally. Earlier this week, President Trump said he planned to issue an executive order preventing states from limiting data center development. Meanwhile, a coalition of environmental and other groups have asked Congress to halt new data centers to assess energy and environmental impacts. Similar debates are happening acro

Northern Virginia has more data centers than anywhere else in the world, including more than a fifth of the worldwide total of hyperscale facilities, and developers are moving south to the Richmond region. Why Virginia? Here are some reasons: This graphic from the Virginia Economic Development Partnership shows some of the many data center companies doing business in Virginia. Telecommunications Northern Virginia has the highest density of fiber networks in the world. Highc

When Julia Mason moved into her new home in Loudoun Meadows six years ago, the community was less than 10 years old, and the view across Quail Ridge Lake was a farm, with woods and a red-and-white barn. Mason didn't know that the same day she arrived, a developer broke ground for a 1- million-square-foot data center for Amazon Web Services that now rises 70 feet directly across from her home on a cul-de-sac in this community near Aldie in southeastern Loudoun County. The view

Imagine a community with as many homes as there are in Richmond and Henrico County popping up in the woods 45 miles west of the city, and the electricity it would use. That’s what just one of the region's latest data centers — EdgeCore Digital’s planned $17 billion, 3.9-million-square-foot facility in Louisa County — will need. Data center developers are already drawing a lot of power. The 451 now running in Virginia, home to the largest concentration of data centers in the w

T he developers who built the world's largest concentration of data centers in Northern Virginia are now eyeing the Richmond area. While some counties here are embracing the projects, others are starting to have second thoughts. Data center developers want to be here. Google's $9 billion plan to build data centers in Virginia means not only expansions at facilities in Loudoun and Prince William counties. It will also include the tech giant's first Richmond-area data center,