In the news · InsideNoVa
“We don’t want a change of tone. We want a change of direction.”
Carylee Carrington, Brentsville District resident
Prince William residents call for 12-month pause on data center approvals
By Cameron Delean, InsideNoVa, Nov. 1, 2026
The proposed pause would give the county time to update its Design and Construction Standards Manual and other policies and ordinances governing data center development, the petition states.
Among the requested changes are increased buffers and setbacks between data centers and homes, schools, parks and religious institutions.
Residents at the event also raised concerns about noise, light pollution, air quality, drinking water, electricity costs and the expansion of power infrastructure.
Carylee Carrington, a resident of the Brentsville District, said the board’s September decision to end by-right data center development did not address projects that could continue advancing during a 90-day grace period established as part of the policy shift.
Carrington said residents want a temporary pause with clearly established beginning and ending dates, along with a public hearing before the period expires.
“We don’t want a change of tone. We want a change of direction,” Carrington said.
Prince William County has 59 data center buildings in operation and 29 more under construction. About 64 million more square feet are planned or pending. (County GIS, as of November 4, 2026.)
The tracker below follows new data center filings made under the county’s Data Center Overlay District rules. The Board adopted those rules on September 22, 2026. Projects have until December 21, 2026 to file and still qualify. As of November 2, 2026, the tracker counts 8 filings since July 15, 2026: 6 by-right site plans and 2 special use permits. Together they total about 10.7 million sq ft where the size is known.
Data Center Map
Click a marker for details and the county source record. Map data: Prince William County GIS; tiles © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Overlay District (DCOZOD)
The 2016 Data Center Opportunity Zone Overlay District.
Photo: Hugh Kenny / Piedmont Environmental CouncilOperating, Approved, Proposed
Data center lists, with current county figures.
Site-Specific Projects
Pageland Lane, Gainesville Crossing and others.
Background and Commentary
Articles and commentary.
Prince William County data centers: background
County figures as of November 4, 2026
These numbers come straight from the county’s own data center layers.
- Completed: 59 buildings, about 13.8 million sq ft.
- Under construction: 29 buildings, about 8.6 million sq ft.
- Planned (approved, not yet built): 91 buildings, about 30.7 million sq ft.
- Pending (applications not yet decided): 68 buildings on 15 campuses, about 33.6 million sq ft.
Leaving out the Digital Gateway, that is about 75.9 million sq ft in all. 66 of the county’s other 76 data center campuses are inside the Data Center Overlay District.
The 75.9 million total removes the Digital Gateway (Digital Gateway North, 7.0 million sq ft, and Digital Gateway South, 3.7 million sq ft), because courts ruled its approvals void and the last appeal was withdrawn on July 2, 2026. The pending figure above is the county’s own number and still counts the Digital Gateway.
Source: Prince William County GIS, Data Center Buildings and Data Center Campuses layers, checked November 4, 2026. Square footage is the county’s gross floor area (GFA) figure.
Coalition analysis from 2024
The totals below are the Coalition’s own research as of March 1, 2024. They include power estimates. They have not been redone with 2026 data. Use the county figures above for current counts.
Digital communication may be a permanent part of our current existence, but our county now has incompatible data centers (which manage all that digital communication – “the Internet”) right next to our homes, schools, and parks. These tall and massive concrete buildings require dedicated high voltage transmission lines and dedicated substations that WE pay for, generate noise 24/7, eradicate acres of green space and land for other uses, consume massive amounts of water and power, and create issues with groundwater supply and watersheds due to their building and parking impervious surfaces.
Updated 2024 analysis now reveals a potential for ~80M+ sq ft of data centers across Prince William County. PW Times article – 2/22/24
PWC TOTALS = ~86.9 M sq ft – 26,533 MW (26.5 gigawatts of power) as of 3/1/24. Access detailed breakdowns below.
NOTE: For power estimation in the below research and analysis, a conservative mean value of 305 watts/sq ft was used. One gigawatt = 1 billion watts.
MAP: 
TO PUT THIS INTO CONTEXT:
- 26.5 gigawatts is the amount of power required for 6,633,250 homes. There are only ~482,000 residents (2020 census) in all of Prince William County.
- 5 New York Citys would require 27.5 gigawatts of power (in 2022 NYC used 5.5 gigawatts of power).
- North Anna and South Anna nuclear power plants generate 1 gigawatt of electricity each.
- In order to provide the estimated 26+ gigawatts of power required for this ~86.9M sq ft data center potential, PWC would need the equivalent of 26+ nuclear power plants.
- The equivalent of 17+ nuclear power plants would be required for ~57M sq ft of PWC data centers that are currently operating and have been approved – without beginning to address an additional 9 nuclear power plants required for the PWC data center applications totaling ~29.9M sq ft!
Is this what Prince William County wants and needs?
-
PWC Currently Operating Data Centers: ~8.5M sq ft – 2,614 MW (2.6 gigawatts)
Data Centers PWC Currently Operating 022724
-
PWC Approved/Under Construction Data Centers: ~48.5M sq ft – 14,809 MW (14.8 gigawatts)
Data Centers PWC Approved Construction Underway Inside DCOZOD 030124
Data Centers PWC Approved Construction Underway Outside DCOZOD 030124
-
PWC Applications/Not yet Approved for Data Centers: ~29.9M sq ft – 9,110 MW (9.1 gigawatts)
Data Centers PWC Applications Not Approved Inside DCOZOD 030124
Data Centers PWC Applications Not Approved Outside DCOZOD 030124
————————————————
-
Manassas City Data Centers (not included in PWC): ~636.7K sq ft – 194 MW
Data Centers Manassas City (not included in PWC totals) 022724
—————————————————
(DISCLAIMER: The above information is a collection of data obtained and collated from 100% open Public Sources and publicly available information sources. This information was gathered and consolidated by citizen volunteers. It was NOT collected from any proprietary or non-public sources or references. Also, please note that this information is only as accurate as the publicly available information available and may not be 100.0% accurate but is considered as the best available collection of information that is currently available.)
——————————————————————————————————————————————————–
-
Rumored Additional PWC Data Center Possibilities (According to any sources available)
Sanders Lane and Catharpin Valley Estates Assemblages – 2500 acres — ~7 gigawatts possibly?
*****************************************************************
WHY ARE ANY MORE DATA CENTERS NEEDED IN PWC??
*****************************************************************************
Data Center Noise Study from Dr. John Lyver:
Lyver Data Center Noise Study 022524
Lyver Data Center Noise Study 123122
———————————–
See all organization letters opposing the Digital Gateway – threats to the Rural Crescent
————————
Data Centers – Applications & Possibilities – 2022 estimates
Data Centers – Approved – Under Construction, To Be Built – 2022 estimates
Data Centers – Already Built – 6.1M sq ft – 2022 figures
Rejected by Loudoun Board of Supervisors 2/15/22: Loudoun County – Loudoun Rural Data Center Alley ‘Dulles Cloud South’ – Data Center Land Study – 2/16/22