Virginia's massive data center plan near Civil War battlefield collapses after final appeal dropped

A years-long fight over one of the most ambitious data center projects in the country has come to an end in Virginia.

The data center developer QTS officially ended its plans to build a section of the planned 2,100-acre data center campus in Prince William County, Va., after years of legal battles with residents and preservation groups. 

What happened?

The proposal called for a 22-million-square-foot, gigawatt-scale data center campus, which was promoted as being the largest of its kind in the world. QTS would control more than 800 acres; Compass Datacenters would have 800 to 1,000 acres; and the remainder would be covered by roads, buffer areas, and private areas, Bloomberg reported.

Residents have argued for a while that the facility's location near the Manassas National Battlefield Park was too threatening to the surrounding area's environmental, historical, and residential landscape. 

In March, Virginia courts held that the zoning approvals were invalid because the county had failed to meet the notice timing requirement under the rules. Then, Prince William County stopped defending the project, and Compass withdrew. 

But on July 2, QTS, which is owned by Blackstone, filed with the Virginia Supreme Court, stating it was withdrawing its last appeal "after careful consideration," according to Bloomberg. 

Why does it matter?

Data centers can bring jobs, tax revenue, and digital infrastructure, but they can also consume enormous amounts of electricity and water, generate noise, and place new pressure on nearby communities.

But demand for data center-related jobs has grown significantly, according to a March report by Revelio Labs. Since ChatGPT launched, demand for construction workers to build these data centers has increased by more than 430%. 

There are approximately 700 projects in development in the U.S. right now, according to Revelio Labs. Each data center ranges in size from two to 200 football fields and requires 100 to 200 megawatts of power, which could supply power for 50,000 to 100,000 homes. 

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