Virginia has become a hub of data-center activity, hosting more than 35% of hyperscale data centers worldwide, according to the Virginia Economic Development Partnership.
However, Business Insider reported residents are split on whether the economic benefits outweigh the negatives, with reduced quality of life due to noise being a chief complaint.
What's happening?
Last year, the Commonwealth of Virginia noted in a report on data centers in the state that the facilities' industrial scale "makes them largely incompatible with residential uses." Despite this, around one-third of data centers are near residential areas.
According to Business Insider, many residents support the presence of data centers in their communities because they bring in tax revenue to fund schools and other crucial services.
Buddy Rizer, Loudoun County's executive director of economic development, told the outlet that data centers enabled tax cuts that saved homeowners around $3,500 per year on average.
Yet some residents say data centers are destroying their neighborhoods. Mustafa Kaya, who bought a home in Northern Virginia's Amberleigh Station, said equipment testing for a Google project was so loud he had to sleep in his basement for two nights. He also said the air smells of diesel.
Other residents reported cracked drywall from blasting during construction for nearby projects, worsening anxiety, and losing their connections to nature. Others added that their children have experienced nightmares, while sleep deprivation has been a problem because of the 24/7 noise from data-center cooling fans.
One Amberleigh Station resident put their house up for sale after receiving notice that 11 new data centers would soon be under construction.
"I took one look at it and said we are not going to do that," they told Business Insider. "That's not a good quality of life."
Why is this important?
The emergence of cryptocurrency and AI are fueling data-center demand, and Virginians aren't the only ones worried about how data centers are impacting their quality of life.
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Amazon and Google are among the major companies setting up shop in Virginia, with 40 of Prince William County's 77 existing or under-construction campuses owned by Amazon, according to Business Insider.
The outlet also found during its broader analysis of U.S. data centers that many are in population centers, with around 50% within a mile of at least 5,000 people.
Historically, Amazon's data centers have caused massive amounts of pollution, with AI and crypto being two energy-intensive industries. However, it is working to slash emissions, supporting hundreds of renewable energy projects worldwide, introducing electric vehicles to its delivery fleet, and taking action to reduce plastic in packaging.
Nonetheless, the robust data-center industry can also contribute to the expansion of dirty energy. In March, for example, Data Center Dynamics reported that Virginia's Dominion Energy filed a request to construct and operate a new 1-gigawatt gas plant to keep up with data-center demand.
What's more, data centers often use large volumes of water for cooling. Last year, Fairfax County's Environmental Quality Advisory Council raised the alarm about data centers' potential to degrade water quality at the Occoquan Reservoir, which provides drinking water for thousands of Virginians.
What can be done about this?
More and more data centers are adopting renewable sources, which don't generate pollution associated with millions of annual premature deaths.
For instance, the 2025 Cambridge Digital Mining Industry Report found that more than half of the energy for Bitcoin mining now comes from renewables. Meanwhile, a simplified AI algorithm is also one solution to cut energy needs in that sector.
Some data centers are also exploring alternative methods of cooling.
Business Insider reports that Compass and QTS, the developers of the Digital Gateway project in Virginia, said they won't use water to keep their data center temperatures in check. Yet some experts remain skeptical that water-free cooling will be implemented at scale in the near future.
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