Dear Supporters,
We have a few important announcements.
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Nearly a decade ago the Coalition to Protect PWC was formed to protect our homes, our property, our small businesses, our natural and cultural resources, and our pocketbooks from the power demands required by the data center industry. We said then that the Haymarket Transmission line fight was about so much more than a power line. It was about the wealthiest corporations in world taking too much……too much land, too much power, too much water.
All one has to do is pick up the paper and see that another community in Virginia is fighting the proliferation of the data center industry.
There is an existential threat to the entire state, and if we do not alter the current course, we will see the state industrialized – from the ocean to the mountains. Whether it is the physical footprint of the massive concrete buildings, the buzzing substations, the 100+ ft tall transmission lines, the increased pollution to our air and water, or the doubling of our electric bills, the industry will touch every Virginian.
While the data center industry is woven into the economic fabric of Virginia, the question we must face is: What happens when that fabric rips under the strain?
In response to these credible concerns, December 1st was the formal announcement of the Virginia Data Center Reform Coalition.
Together our communities are stronger than ever.
“…Glen Besa, the retired director of the Virginia chapter of the Sierra Club, said in an interview that it’s unfair to ask Virginians to foot the bill for new power plants to feed energy-hungry data centers, especially if those plants run on fossil fuels. “Why are we bearing the burden of additional air pollution, climate pollution, additional costs when the data centers are serving all of the United States as well as the world?” Besa asked.”
“Kyle Hart, the National Parks Conservation Association’s mid-Atlantic program manager, said that data centers affect more than just the communities living nearby and represent an existential threat to natural resources…”
This issue crosses partisan lines. Legislators from both sides of the aisle in the General Assembly are demonstrating what Americans crave most – working together to meet kitchen table challenges.
Virginia coalition calls for oversight of data centers (richmond.com)
“LAKE RIDGE — Two newly elected members of the Virginia House of Delegates — even before they take office — are sounding the alarm about the costs of the rapidly expanding data center industry in Virginia.”
“Josh Thomas, the Democrat, and Ian Lovejoy, the Republican, were elected last month to represent parts of Prince William County that are at the epicenter of an escalating fight over the proliferation of data centers that require enormous amounts of electricity, water and land to serve the global demand for digital data storage.”
“Those guardrails are likely to take the form of legislation in the assembly session that convenes on Jan. 10 to prevent data sprawl from encroaching on homes and schools, parks and national battlefields, and demand more transparency about the electric power generation and transmission, water supply and land required to support them.”
““We want an industry that is a good neighbor,” said Lovejoy, a former Manassas city councilman who defeated Democrat Travis Nembhard in another new district in western Prince William, where the massive Prince William Digital Gateway project is facing a crucial vote by the county Board of Supervisors next week.”
“Thomas and Lovejoy were joined by Del. Danica Roem, D-Prince William, who is newly elected to the state Senate…”
“…Members of the reform coalition say they have not met with the Youngkin administration but urged the governor to get behind industry reforms.”
“He’s going to be responsible of the largest (electric) rate increase in Virginia history if he doesn’t intervene,” said Piedmont Environmental Council President Chris Miller after the coalition news conference here.”
The reason this Virginia Data Center Reform Coalition was formed is because our local leaders are NOT listening to common sense concerns. They are NOT asking the right questions or demanding the right answers.
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The first proposal for the PJM data center planning initiative to bring power to Data Center Alley has been disclosed. It will impact tens of thousands of residents along its path. (Access full details)
Western Loudoun Power Line Proposal Stirs New Community Concerns | News | loudounnow.com
Please use the below email address and contact information to write to PJM Board of Managers that it is wrong to demand Virginians sacrifice their homes, their history, their natural, and their cultural resources for the wealthiest industry in the world! (Add your email to Karen Sheehan’s)
The PJM Board of Managers
Mark Takahashi, Chairman
Manu Asthana, PJM President and CEO
PJM Interconnection L.L.C.
2750 Monroe Boulevard
Audubon, Pennsylvania 19408
RE: PJM 2022 Window 3 Project Recommendation
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Last week, the Devlin Tech Park project was approved – in spite of critical questions remaining on power, water, and open space.
And now this revelation: It has come to our attention that the Digital Gateway project Board hearing was NOT ADVERTISED with proper notice. This is a key legal requirement.
Sometimes, just sometimes, the Arc of Justice bends in the right direction. We do not know how this majority Board, intent on twisting itself into a pretzel, can possibly maneuver around this legal issue.
NOW, more than ever, citizens need to demand a stop to the distortion and rot in the “lack” of process.
If this Chair-Wheeler-Board persists in hearing the Digital Gateway application on December 12, citizens from throughout the county must show up in opposition. This is no longer just about a data center application. This is about the very credibility and trust of our local government.
There is no knight in shining armor. We must rescue ourselves.
Do not go into those Board Chambers begging for mercy, begging for them to save your homes, your community, your power grid.
Instead, go into those Board Chambers and TELL them you are NOT AFRAID. TELL THEM you know there is an active lawsuit by Oak Valley and that you are more than happy to support it.
Let them know that if this Board moves ahead with the Digital Gateway hearing on December 12th, there is legal action waiting in the wings.