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A12 BUSINESS
Monday 23 January 2023
Virginia, Amazon announce $35 billion

data center plan

opposition, said Friday’s
announcement shows that
“the influence of big tech
money has become intoxi-
cating to our politicians.”
He said that he does not
object to data centers in
and of themselves and
hopes that the state will
place them in areas that
don’t harm the environ-
ment, and in rural areas
where jobs are needed.
But he expressed skepti-
cism that the state is willing
to stand up to tech com-
panies that want the cen-
Spencer Snakard, president of Protect Fauquier, speaks Aug. 29, ters in northern Virginia.
2022, at a rally near Manassas, Va., protesting a newly built data “Northern Virginia is be-
center for Amazon Web Services. ing overwhelmed by these
Associated Press
things,” Wright said. “We
may as well start calling
By MATTHEW BARAKAT consume huge amounts of ourselves the Common-
AP Business Writer electricity that can require wealth of Amazon.”
ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) — construction of high-volt- Suzanne Clark, a spokes-
Amazon Web Services age transmission lines to woman the the Virginia
plans to invest $35 billion support them. Economic Development
in new data centers in Vir- Bills proposed in the leg- Partnership, said Amazon
ginia under a deal with the islature this year would Web Services is explor-
state, Gov. Glenn Youngkin increase regulate where ing several site locations
announced Friday. centers could be located. “in collaboration with the
Millions of dollars in incen- The governor’s office said Commonwealth” but did
tives to close the deal still the locations of the data not specify any sites.
require legislative approv- centers, to be built by 2040, Northern Virginia has been
al, but General Assembly will be determined at a lat- a tech hub since the for-
leaders in both parties ex- er date. mation of the internet, and
pressed support in a news But tech companies prefer now hosts more data cen-
release issued by Young- northern Virginia because ters than the next five larg-
kin’s office. it is close to the historical est U.S. markets combined,
Still, data centers have be- backbone of the internet, according to the North-
come a politically volatile and proximity to those con- ern Virginia Technology
topic, particularly in north- nection points provides Council. They have also
ern Virginia, where the nanoseconds of advan- proven to be a cash cow
structures are increasingly tage that are of impor- for local governments that
common and where neigh- tance to tech companies embrace them — data
bors are voicing noise and that rely on the servers to centers now provide for
environmental concerns. support financial transac- more than 30 percent of
Data centers house the tions, gaming technology the general fund budget
computer servers and and other time-sensitive of Loudoun County, a sub-
hardware required to sup- applications. urb of the nation’s capital
port modern internet use, Bill Wright, a Prince Wil- with more than 400,000
and demand continues liam County resident who residents.
to increase. But the data opposed a massive data Another data center op-
centers require high-pow- center expansion recently ponent, Elena Schlossberg
ered fans and extensive approved by the county’s with the Coalition to Pro-
cooling capacity that can Board of Supervisors over tect Prince William Coun-
generate noise. They also considerable community ty, expressed dismay that
Youngkin felt emboldened
to announce a data cen-
ter deal in a year when
state and local officials are
all on the election ballot
in Virginia — and as com-
munity concern over data
centers is growing.
“That is just mind-boggling
that he does not see that
communities are uniting” in
opposition to data centers,
she said.q