Supervisors, residents raise infrastructure and environmental questions about data center growth

Warren County officials and public commenters discussed data centers and whether the county should expect a rapid influx of such facilities, with supervisors and residents voicing infrastructure and environmental concerns.

Supervisor Cullors told the board she had toured Northern Virginia data center footprints and spoken with industry contacts and said she believes the common constraints—electric supply and transmission—make a large near-term wave of new data centers unlikely for Warren County. County colleagues echoed concerns about water usage and long-term landscape impacts if certain kinds of power or cooling (including small modular reactors or SMRs) were used.

Public commenter Jared Hill urged the county to distinguish data-center types—grid-powered facilities that rely on diesel generators for peak seasons versus centers purpose-built with small modular reactors (SMRs)—and said those differences matter because SMRs require large amounts of cooling water and produce long-lived nuclear waste that raises cradle-to-grave environmental justice concerns. Hill and supervisors said key questions for the county include grid capacity, water demand, local job creation estimates, and who ultimately bears environmental costs.

Supervisors said they had visited larger data-center markets and that, in their view, the electric utilities’ current capacity is a limiting factor. Several board members said they did not believe a majority of the board would approve a data center application in the immediate term. The discussion reflected both resident concern and a cautionary posture from elected officials who said they will evaluate proposals on case-by-case merits as part of normal land-use and permitting processes.

No formal action was taken; the remarks came during supervisors’ reports and public comments.