Residents press Warrenton officials for answers as proposed data center, power line draw scrutiny

Dozens of residents turned out at the Sept. 2 Warrenton Board of Aldermen meeting to press elected officials for information and local protections related to a proposed data center and a private transmission line route that developers say would deliver power to the site.

At issue are the developer’s planned 345-kilovolt connection from the existing Root Beer substation, an easement route through private properties, and a facility that developer materials and regional utility filings show could need roughly 200–250 megawatts of continuous power. Residents and local advocates said the city and county have not made clear how the project would affect groundwater, emergency response, noise and long-term electric rates.

Those concerns escalated during a long public-comment period at which multiple speakers described health, environmental and economic worries if a large data center is built without stronger local requirements. “No permits, no back‑room deals, complete transparency,” citizen Anna Farrar told the aldermen, urging a municipal ordinance to require city-level permitting, water and air safeguards, disclosure of monitoring data online and bonding to cover possible remediation costs.

Why it matters: evidence of…