Amazon Web Services plans to invest $ 35 billion in a new data center in Virginia in a deal with the state, Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced there.
Millions of dollars in incentives to close the deal still require legislative approval, but General Assembly leaders in both parties expressed support in a news release issued by Youngkin’s office.
Still, data centers have become a volatile political topic, especially in northern Virginia, where the structure is increasingly common and where neighbors voice noise and environmental concerns.
Data centers house the computer servers and hardware needed to support modern internet use, and demand continues to grow. But data centers need fans with high power and extensive cooling capacity that can generate noise. They also use so much electricity that they need the construction of high voltage transmission lines to support them.
A bill proposed in the legislature this year would add rules on where centers can be located.
The governor’s office said the location of the data center, which will be built in 2040, will be determined later. But tech companies prefer northern Virginia because it’s close to the backbone of the internet’s history, and proximity to those connection points gives tech companies an important nanosecond advantage that relies on servers to support financial transactions, gaming technology and other times. -sensitive applications.
Bill Wright, a Prince William County resident who opposes a massive data center expansion that was recently approved by the county Board of Supervisors over widespread community opposition, said Friday’s announcement shows that “the influence of big tech money has become intoxicating to our politicians. “
He said that he does not object to data centers in themselves and hopes that the country will place them in areas that do not harm the environment, and in rural areas where work is needed. But he expressed skepticism that the state is willing to stand by tech companies that want to center in northern Virginia.
‘Overwhelmed’ by Amazon’s data center
“Northern Virginia is overwhelmed with this,” Wright said. “We might as well start calling ourselves the Amazon Commonwealth.”
Suzanne Clark, spokeswoman for the Virginia Economic Development Partnership, said Amazon Web Services is exploring several site locations “in cooperation with the commonwealth” but did not identify any sites.
Northern Virginia has been a technology hub since the inception of the internet, and is now home to more data centers than the five largest U.S. markets combined, according to the Northern Virginia Technology Council. They’ve also proven to be cash cows for the local governments that adopt them — data centers now provide more than 30 percent of Loudoun County’s general fund budget, a suburb of the state capital with more than 400,000 residents.
Another data center opponent, Elena Schlossberg with the Coalition to Protect Prince William County, expressed disappointment that Youngkin felt emboldened to announce the data center deal in a year when state and local officials are all up for election in Virginia — and public concerns. data centers are growing.
“It’s just amazing that they don’t see that the community is uniting” against the data center, he said.
In a tweet, Youngkin spokesman Macaulay Porter said the $35 billion is the largest capital investment in Virginia history. In terms of jobs, the governor’s office says it will generate more than 1,000 jobs across the state. That’s not compared to the 25,000 jobs tied to Amazon’s decision in 2018 to build its second headquarters in Arlington County.
The deal calls for Amazon to receive incentives from the new Mega Data Center Incentive Program, as well as grants of up to $140 million for workforce development site improvements and other costs. Both would require legislative approval.
The exact amount of the grant in the incentive program will depend on the number of projects created, according to the legislation that can be passed by the General Assembly. It will also include a temporary exemption from the sales and use tax levied on data centers in Virginia.
‘Long-term environmental consequences’
Sen. State Chap Petersen, D-Fairfax, is sponsoring legislation that would limit the siting of data centers near natural or historic resources. Petersen said Virginia risks being overwhelmed with data centers if protections aren’t put in place.
“In my opinion, the data center is a short-term financial gain with long-term environmental consequences. Industrial buildings without real workers are not the economy of the future,” he said. “In fact, it may become obsolete within ten years. Meanwhile, we are losing farmland and historic sites.
An Amazon Web Services spokeswoman declined to comment on the record about the number of data centers it plans and Amazon’s preferences for those locations.
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