Dear Coalition Friends and Neighbors,
If you believed we had reached the pinnacle of absurd with the Digital Gateway project, buckle up. Greed and avarice apparently know no “earthly” bounds.
As you may be aware, since around 2022 there has been an “assemblage” area of approximately 2,000 acres adjacent to the Digital Gateway corridor called the Sanders Lane Assemblage. It has taken on more than one iteration and has had more than one contract.
If you recall, former Supervisor Pete Candland met with that Sanders Lane community early on to share his experience with the Digital Gateway application. In fact, his outreach for that was a piece of the Recall Campaign to remove him from office.
Pete then worked for LSI. LSI is the data center lobbying firm and developer now pitching a data center campus on the Sanders Lane assemblage 2000 acres. Fast forward to today, even current serving School Board Member Erica Tredinnick works for LSI.
Dec. 10, 2025: Prince William’s Tredinnick working for lobbying firm | Prince William | insidenova.comPrince William’s Tredinnick working for lobbying firm | Prince William | insidenova.com
Dec. 18, 2025: Massive data center project pitched for rural Gainesville | Localnews | princewilliamtimes.com
Dec. 17, 2025: 1,930-acre data center campus proposed in Prince William – Washington Business Journal
“LSI counts Prince William School Board member Erica Tredinnick as an employee. Tredinnick, reached by phone, said she is unaware of this project. Former Prince William Supervisor Pete Candland has worked for LSI to advocate fore residents since selling their property to the digital gateway developers.”
Where do we start picking out the silliness?
Let’s start with the name of the project. Dulles South isn’t even original. They re-appropriated that name from LOUDOUN COUNTY!
February 2022: Loudoun cool to data center expansion near Pageland Lane proposal | Headlines | insidenova.com
“This Dulles South Cloud idea is horrible to me, in my opinion,” said Supervisor Tony Buffington, R-Blue Ridge. “I will fight this so hard every step of the way.”
Take a look at the copycat Dulles South “project page:”
Dulles South Innovation Center
Are YOU hearing it too??? “…Ground Control to Major Tom…”
David Bowie – Space Oddity (Official Video)
As for their outlandish promises:
Virginia Data Center Annual Losses Top $1 Billion – Good Jobs First
“A recent report from Virginia’s Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission (JLARC) reports that Virginia lost $1.022 billion in FY 2024 to its sales and use tax exemption for data centers.
Along with Texas, that means Virginia joins the dubious club of states crossing the $1 billion line. How many more states are approaching that threshold is a mystery because a dozen states fail to disclose even one aggregate revenue-loss number.
Data centers massively dominate Virginia’s spending for economic development incentives. The JLARC study also shows that all other incentive programs combined cost the state $235 million. In other words, the data center tax break made up more than 81% of all state incentive costs for 2024.”
This application needs to come back down to earth. Because here on earth, the REALITY we are facing is there is not enough power generation, not enough transmission lines, not enough water, and not enough land. This application is beyond absurd.
The Digital Gateway has been overturned. And given what we now all know, Dominion Energy and PJM should be thanking the community for being relentless in fighting the threat of this “dystopian hellscape.”
No more PJM data centers unless they can be reliably served: market monitor | Utility Dive
“If PJM has an obligation to provide reliable service to all PJM loads, is it just and reasonable for PJM to add new loads that it cannot serve reliably?” Monitoring Analytics asked. “The answer to that question is no.”
Energy demand will outstrip supply in Virginia as data centers proliferate – Cardinal News
Rolling blackouts are very likely in the region in the next few years, said Gary Wood, president and CEO of Central Virginia Electric Cooperative.
HELLO?? Are the people behind this application reading the news?
The Morrisville to Wishing Star transmission line expansion will provide less than 100 megawatts to the Digital Gateway Project IF it is approved. But what does this REALLY tell you? There is no electrical capacity left on the current line running down Pageland Lane, OR Sanders Lane. AND this new line being built will barely have anything left for ONE massive data center project much less for a SECOND digital “gateway to hell” project!
The PWC Board of Supervisors may want to claim that there was not enough evidence to prove the Digital Gateway was a bad idea, that they were “misled.” But we know now that there isn’t enough power, and that THEIR decisions are driving the transmission infrastructure ruining communities and driving up OUR utility costs.
Nokesville, Bristow residents protest transmission lines | Localnews | princewilliamtimes.com
The crowd, standing behind a banner that said: “Protect Brentsville – Stop the Power Lines,” chanted slogans, listened to residents complain of threats to their properties and heard elected officials decry the new 230-kilovolt line proposed from Nokesville to data centers in Innovation Park.
“All of us are here tonight because our quality of life and our homes are under threat from yet another project by Dominion,” said Vida Carroll, one of the founders of Civic Association of Brentsvillle and Surrounding Areas, which helped organize the protest. “Our properties, our yards, our backyards, our green space is being used as an extension cord for big data, and it’s unacceptable.”
Big data – that is, data centers – were also a target. “The data center industry (is) a multi-trillion-dollar industry. They profit from the end result of this. And who pays the higher bills? We do,” said state Senator Danica Roem, whose 30th District includes this area.
We appreciate the Board of Supervisors coming out with a strong statement demanding the Nokesville transmission line be buried, but we need them to understand that their decisions to continue to approve data centers are laying the groundwork for MORE energy infrastructure: gas plants, substations, transmission lines, diesel generators, and possibly new nuclear reactors.
And we haven’t even started to address the newest PJM transmission expansion plans which include MORE 500 kV transmission lines and Northern Virginia’s first ever 765 kV transmission line:
PJM-Data-Center-Driven-Projects-2022-to-Present-Dec-2025.pdf
So – each one of our esteemed Board of Supervisors needs to heed this: “Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, SHAME ON ME!”
Your constituents are certainly watching.
——————
Please make a donation to help with our on-going activities.