By Tom Gordy Feb 16, 2023
Virginia’s Department of Environmental Quality is considering increasing pollution limits for about 150 data centers in Prince William, Loudoun and Fairfax counties from March to July so they can run their backup power generators in case of stress on the electrical grid. The current electrical grid is limited in its ability to meet current demand and still more and more data centers are being constructed, approved, and are working through the planning and zoning processes.
Dominion Energy CEO Bob Blue stated in an August 2022 investor call that data centers account for about 20% of the company’s sales in Virginia. Over the past four years, the company had connected nearly 70 data centers with more than 2.6 gigawatts of capacity in Northern Virginia. He claimed electrical demand from data centers is expected to grow by another 2.6 gigawatts by 2027.
I’m greatly concerned that while our communities are being divided over data centers, the reality may be that the power grid will not be able to sustain the exponential growth of the data industry while providing power for everyone else — including schools, hospitals, businesses and homes – without significant upgrades to the grid. The option to run noisy generators that require waivers for air-quality standards is not a desirable solution for either the short or long terms.
It would be beneficial for community leaders to hear from Dominion about the impending challenges related to our power grid’s ability to meet growing data center demand and the plans to address them.
Adding transmission and distribution lines or developing small modular nuclear reactors – something Gov. Glenn Youngkin has said the state should explore – requires transparency and community input. The sooner we understand the challenges and proposed solutions, the better.
However, there is mounting research showing that even with the rapid addition of new data centers, the current model is not sustainable. Aston University researchers in Birmingham, England have concluded, “The world could soon face a massive data storage crunch thanks to the exponential growth of information people store digitally every day.” They say the global datasphere — the total amount of data worldwide stored in data centers — will increase by 300% within the next three years to 175 zettabytes – or 175 billion terabytes.
According to analysis, data centers already use up 1.5% of the world’s electricity. One of the researchers, Dr. Matt Derry, stated, “Simply building new data centers without improving data storage technologies is not a viable solution.”
Dr. Amit Kumar Sarkar, a researcher in materials chemistry, added: “Increasing the efficiency of existing technologies will significantly reduce the need for costly, environmentally damaging construction of new ‘mega data centers.’”
In a nutshell, over the next few years, data centers will have to transform because of the exponential growth of data and the inability of the power grid to meet demand. Data centers will have to incorporate smaller, less-power-hungry technologies, which may preclude the need for the massive facilities currently expanding across the Northern Virginia landscape.
Northern Virginia is ground zero for this dilemma. Prince William, Loudoun and Fairfax can be catalysts to push data companies to start investing and implementing new technologies that are better for our environment and better for our communities for the long term.
A win-win is possible, but a governmental backbone will be required. State and local financial incentives for data centers, as well as planning and zoning requirements, should encourage investments in new energy-efficient technologies and smaller, less impactful facilities.
In the meantime, we all need to understand we are part of the problem. We are the ones creating data and storing it in the cloud, requiring data storage companies to build as fast as they can to meet the growing demand.
We all can do our part by deleting the unnecessary, unused data stored in the cloud. When it comes time for spring cleaning, include devices and cloud-based accounts. This is just as important from an environmental perspective as reusing, reducing and recycling.
The need for data centers is not going away. So we all have work to do to ensure that data storage becomes sustainable for our communities and the environment. The time to transform is now.
Tom Gordy represents the Brentsville District on the Prince William County Planning Commission.