Dear Supporters,
“…The project is one of two major data center rezonings the supervisors have scheduled for votes during the board’s “lame duck” session before the end of the year. A public hearing and possible vote on the Devlin Technology Park is set for Tuesday, Nov. 28. The board will take up the much larger nearly 1,800-acre Digital Gateway rezonings on Tuesday, Dec. 12.”
“Bristow residents have been fighting the Devlin Technology Park since early 2023. The project was first up for a vote back in February but was delayed indefinitely because it lacked the support of the board’s five-member majority. The decision to defer the vote was made after 3 a.m. on Feb. 8 after a marathon board meeting preceded by a resident protest…”
–>(Speak Out on Tuesday, Nov. 28 – Details below)
–>(Link to Devlin Staff Report below)
Why should you care what happens on Linton Hall Road, or Pageland Lane, or John Marshall Highway?
Because the rot in the data center proliferation is creating planning chaos and risking your quality of life.
Who can trust that this kind of industrialization is not coming to their community next?
- What was long range land use zoning for housing IS NOW threatened with data centers.
- What was long range land use protecting rural land with natural and cultural resources IS NOW threatened with data centers.
- What was long range use zoning mixed use development with a town center IS NOW data centers… with homeowners shocked and dismayed at their loss of quality of life and the reduced value of their biggest financial investment.
What is just as shocking though, irrespective of the direct impacts to neighbors, is the lack of transparency and oversight on this kind of industrial development.
WHERE is the power demand “load letter” for 3.5 million sq ft of data center development? Totally missing from the application.
HOW is the power demand going to be met? Totally missing from the application.
Is it the same 500kV transmission line that runs along Pageland which the Digital Gateway applicants erroneously claim will also be used to meet their project needs?
Does the applicant for Devlin Project expect to dip into this same resource as well?
Do our supervisors believe power is magical and endless?
WHY are there conflicting statements from the staff report limiting the Devlin site to only three substations, and the applicant’s proffer statement suggesting otherwise?
The Coalition predicts a mere 3 substations will definitely NOT be enough to meet the load demand of this 3.5M sq ft data center application.
WHY is there no depiction of the size and location of the data center buildings in the application? WHY is there no depiction of where the substations AND transmission lines will be sited?
Exactly like the Digital Gateway application, the “open space” will be vulnerable to be used for all the ancillary infrastructure required for this kind of industrial development.
Why have we pulled out and highlighted the below proffer statements for citizens to review? Because we are concerned; because we predict that 3 substations will NOT be enough. It is obvious that the proffers are a set-up to ensure the applicant can meet its massive power demand with NO OVERSIGHT for comment from the community.
Why not show pictures in the proposal of what each substation looks like?! Like this one:
As taken directly from the applicant’s documents (Staff Report):
“At the sole discretion of the Applicant, electric substations of approximately ten (10) acres in size each (hereinafter, the “Substations”) shall be permitted on Landbay B to serve data center uses, as follows: a. Ans shall be permitte maximum of three (3) Substatiod on Landbay B without a separate public facilities review and determination. Said substations shall be located east of the high voltage transmission line.”
“d. Pursuant to § 32-201.12(a)(2) of the Prince William County Zoning Ordinance, the GDP shall constitute a Plan of Development within the meaning of Va. Code Ann. § 15.2-2232 and § 15.2-2286(A)(8), and the public facilities identified thereon shall be deemed approved and not subject to a separate public facilities review and determination. e. Adjustments to the foregoing standards in this proffer and/or location, number, size, and height of the Substations may be proposed by the Applicant and allowed by the Planning Director without the need for an amendment to the proffers and/or GDP or approval of a public facilities review.
The Applicant shall limit clearing and grading to within those areas depicted on the GDP subject to minor revisions in accordance with final engineering considerations at the time of final site plan review and approval. Those areas outside the limits of clearing shall remain in their natural undisturbed condition with the exception of the installation and maintenance of crossings for: utility connections, electric lines running to/from the electric transmission lines, sanitary and storm outfalls, and supplemental planting as approved by the County.”
Our Board of County Supervisors are not staying up-to-date on current events in the state of Virginia when it comes to unrestrained data center proliferation.
Beginning in September of this year, it became evident that Dominion Energy could not hide the outsized consumption of the total power demands of this one industry.
Virginia: Dominion details data centers’ electricity demands (richmond.com)
“Data centers, some of the biggest electricity users of all, have signed agreements with Dominion Energy showing they expect to use the equivalent of 35% of the record flow of electricity the utility saw during last year’s Christmas freeze, a Richmond Times-Dispatch analysis found.”
“Dominion disclosed the agreements in a few pages of a 221-page State Corporation Commission filing.”
“The utility took the unusual step of detailing customer agreements about planned data centers — the facilities that house equipment to store and move data, power apps and provide access to computer networks — in response to challenges to its long-term forecasts of electricity demand…”
A 5-point plan for Virginia’s data centers – Virginia Mercury
“None of the sessions at last month’s Virginia Clean Energy Summit (VACES) in Richmond were devoted to data centers, but data centers were what everyone was talking about. Explosive growth in that energy-hungry industry has everyone — utilities, the grid operator, and the industry itself — scrambling to figure out how Virginia will provide enough new power generation and transmission. And, worryingly, no one seems to have an answer.”
“Or rather, lots of people have answers, but none of them achieve the trifecta of providing data centers the energy they need while continuing the explosive growth trajectory that state leaders seem to want, and at the same time keeping Virginia’s transition to zero-carbon energy on track. Something has to give. Which will it be?”
“With no action, the “give” comes from the people of Virginia. Residents will see growth they don’t want, pay for infrastructure that doesn’t serve them, suffer from pollution that is not of their making, and see their tax dollars subsidize an industry that employs almost no one…”
Our Board of Supervisors has an opportunity to take a needed pause while the unintended consequences from this industry are better understood. Prince William County is NOT struggling with a lack of data centers in the pipeline. There are tens of millions of sq ft yet to be built, along with all the intrusive power infrastructure required to support that already-approved data center expansion (transmission line and substation expansion) which is being proposed as we write this email.
Speaking up against Devlin is about so much more than someone else’s neighborhood. Because this kind of industrial development has its own far-reaching impacts. And if we do not say NO to anywhere and everywhere, where does this industrial blight stop?
Speak up:
Sign up to speak virtually starting on Thursday, Nov. 23 – signup closes Monday, 5 pm Nov. 27
Speak in person for 3 minutes – One County Complex Ct. McCoart Bldg. Woodbridge 7:30 PM Nov 28
REMEMBER: The original Devlin approved housing project of approximately 500 homes would have required only 2 megawatts of power. Using a VERY conservatively estimated 1000-megawatt load demand of power for the Devlin Data Center Complex – this is enough electricity to power 250,000 homes.
Let that sink in….