Data centers power Wittman’s pocketbook

And we’ll bear the costs for generations to come

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Data centers are “the information backbone of an increasingly digital world.” These specialized, industrial facilities enable the digital services upon which we’re increasingly reliant. Inside these monolithic buildings are rows upon rows of servers, a sea of switches and cables, and the hardware needed to keep them functioning.

The construction and operation of data centers strains Virginia’s resources while also negatively affecting our health, pocketbooks, and quality of life — especially for rural residents. To address the issue, Virginia’s General Assembly legislators introduced dozens of bills in 2026 to rein in data center growth before it becomes unmanageable. Governor Spanberger signed most of the energy and data center legislation and responded with amendments to others. On 4/23/26, lawmakers “accepted amendments to bills that reallocated distribution costs for data centers to rein in residential power bills, but rejected amendments that would have lowered the return on equity for Dominion Energy.”

Data centers are necessary, but we must have regulations and oversight to minimize their harmful effects and their indiscriminate sprawl. We’d have less to worry about if not for Congressman Rob Wittman, who bends the knee to the wealthy donors, PACS, and fossil fuel companies behind data center proliferation. In particular, Wittman’s one “little” vote for H. R. 1 has huge consequences for our district.

A brief history of data centers in Virginia

Virginia is already home to more than 300 data centers, thus earning the nickname “Data Center Alley.” 80% of them are situated in Northern Virginia; the rest are clustered in Henrico and Mecklenburg counties. Over the past 20 years or so, a significant amount of Virginia farmland has evolved into a technology hub. Major infrastructure investment, access to a high-tech workforce, and compelling tax incentives have made Virginia the data center capital of the world.

For example, White Oak Technology Park in eastern Henrico, owned by Meta, spans 130 acres and provides computing power for Meta’s platforms including Facebook, WhatsApp, and Instagram. As of 2023, Amazon Web Services planned to invest $35 billion in Virginia to build more data centers across the Commonwealth by 2040.

The Data Center Coalition claims that data centers are an “economic powerhouse” for our state because of the tax revenue, job creation, and investment opportunities they create:

• Meeting the rampant demand for cloud computing services

• Tax revenue supports other projects (for instance, the Affordable Housing Trust Fund)

• Job growth

• Business-to-business purchases (e.g., security and HVAC services)

• Data companies provide grants to schools and community organizations

• Local economy diversification

• Higher economic output for Virginia ($15.3 billion in 2021)

Tax exemptions spurred 90% of data center investment and growth. But these tax exemptions also mean that data center construction is being subsidized by Virginia’s taxpayers, to the tune of $1.9 billion a year. That breaks down to “a taxpayer cost of more than $1.2 million” for each new job generated by data centers.

The explosive proliferation of artificial intelligence (AI) and its data-intensive needs will continue to require increasing amounts of massive processing power. While data centers may be indispensable, their effects and consequences also require examination and regulation — and, so far, Rob Wittman has not spoken up to protect our district.

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At what cost?

Data centers create significant environmental and resource costs.

• Unsustainable increases in water and energy usage, and land depletion

• Health risks from Perfluoroalkyl and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS)

• Insufficient buffers between data centers and residential areas

• Environmental injustice and data center concentration in low-income/historically marginalized communities

• Threats to historical sites and family cemeteries

The weight of these burdens falls heavily on surrounding communities, especially rural and low-income areas, while the majority of economic benefits apply to entities outside these communities. There is a significant imbalance of needs between local, state and federal levels.

Data center campuses, which include server warehouses, electrical substations and backup diesel generators, far surpass the carbon footprint of business developments like factories and stadiums. Some data centers “need more power than a small city, more than any utility has ever supplied to a single user.” Virginia’s data centers are in the coal-heavy grid region of the mid-Atlantic. Most electrical grids currently rely on fossil fuels, so there’s a huge climate cost attached to powering data centers — unless and until renewable energy sources replace fossil fuels on a massive scale.

Wittman opened a Pandora’s Box of data center problems

How has Wittman’s support of the Trump administration’s energy policies impacted data center development in VA-01? Should we be worried?

Wittman’s H. R. 1 vote spurred hyperscale data center construction, along with the promise of tax credits for the companies who built them.

Wittman’s track record of awarding tax cuts to billionaires while his constituents suffer financially plays a role here. Tech billionaires like Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk demand ever-increasing amounts of energy for data centers, in service of goals that don’t necessarily align with those of Virginia’s residents. Thanks to Wittman’s enabling of their exploding net worth, billionaires have even more to spend on lobbying for and constructing data centers as well as the pollution-gushing power plants that fuel them.

Tech companies claim that more nuclear power will solve the fossil fuel problem. Meta, Google, and Amazon want to triple global nuclear capacity by 2050 (it’s currently at 20%; over 50% of Virginia’s electricity is powered by natural gas). They’re targeting counties like Goochland for their heavy industry development. During a meeting of the Goochland Planning Commission on 9/25/25, Supervisor Lyle noted that “Goochland County will newly receive $1.5 million in annual tax revenue from Amazon, and another $93 million from Eli Lilly over the next 20 years.”

Wittman regularly touts nuclear energy on his website. But nuclear power plants like Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) are unproven technology that will take years to build. Virginians subsidize data centers with our taxpayer money, but it doesn’t seem to be paying off — for us regular folks, at least. The office of former Governor Glenn Youngkin called Amazon’s forthcoming data center expansion “the largest capital investment in Virginia’s history” — but Virginia lost $1.6 billion in “sales and tax use revenue in FY 2025 to data centers.” That money could have funded teacher raises, health insurance assistance, infrastructure, childcare, and a vast number of other benefits for VA-01.

That loss is why, as of this writing, the General Assembly House and Senate chambers are in a heated state budget proposal disagreement over data center tax breaks. The Senate wants to end the “$1.6B sales tax exemption” for data center companies and restore a 5.3% data center sales tax. But House Democrats want to maintain the tax breaks, and Governor Spanberger hesitates to renege on “Virginia’s commitments to businesses that have invested in the Commonwealth.” The 2026 legislative session ended without a budget deal because of the data center issue; a special session on 4/23/26 also resulted in a budget deal impasse for the same reason. If the House prevails, we’ll have to keep subsidizing data centers while the companies behind them rake in profits. And Wittman has already profited from data center proliferation (which we’ll return to in a moment).

A recent computer component supply problem caused by AI and data centers is affecting consumers directly. A sudden, severe DRAM memory shortage is sending prices of computer components like RAM and graphics cards soaring. A predicted year-over-year 23% rise in DRAM bit growth indicates that consumer products reliant on DRAM (such as computers, phones, and other consumer devices) will become scarcer and more expensive.

Another issue is that data centers need to operate 24/7. Reliable wind and solar power, partnered with battery technologies, could provide enough consistent energy, but Wittman does nothing whenever Trump blocks renewable energy projects such as Virginia’s offshore wind project (CVOW). In response to the Trump administration’s policies that limit affordable, clean energy, The Environmental Defense Fund stated that “[b]locking cheap, clean energy while doubling down on outdated fossil fuels makes no economic or environmental sense.” But it has definitely increased our utility bills.

While we scramble to find enough money to pay our bills, Wittman profits from utility rate hikes driven by companies like NextEra in which he owns stock. When confronted about his “financial entanglement,” he blamed data centers for rising energy costs. That blame-game strategy is undermined by his vote for H. R. 1, “which accelerated the construction of data centers nationwide.” Wittman cannot have it both ways when data center proliferation and spiking energy costs are helping to line his own pockets..

H. R. 1 also gutted green energy tax credits. By voting for it, Wittman slowed clean energy development and sabotaged the development of new projects, including the jobs they would have generated for Virginians.

Rural residents exploited

Data center problems are state- and district-wide, but they’ve disproportionally impacted Virginia’s rural residents. Rural communities’ sparser populations and shrinking tax bases make them vulnerable. These areas often have insufficient funds for schools, services, and infrastructure. To rural communities, data center tax revenue and job creation can look appealing, perhaps even lifesaving. A study revealed that data center companies promise they’ll deliver “numerous tech jobs” to rural communities. In fact, they’re targeting rural areas for the “lower construction costs, abundant land… network connectivity and access to reliable, affordable electricity.”

Goochland County is one example of a rural community that wants to bolster economic growth through data center tax revenue. Residents have raised concerns as “local governments rush to join what looks like a stampede of unchecked development in central Virginia.”

In Warren County, citizens are sounding the alarm about “what’s really happening” with data centers. The main concerns are water and electricity usage, environmental risks (such as “what happens if 30,000 gallons of glycol [from a data center] leaks into the aquifer”), and health impacts. When dangling the tax revenue carrot, data center companies are playing games of bait and switch:

Data center developers often promise a flood of tax revenue for local governments. But the speakers urged residents to look beyond the headlines… In Manassas, a data center was reclassified as a bank processing facility. Under Virginia law, banks are exempt from certain equipment taxes. “The city thought they’d get millions,” Burbank said. “They got nothing but a giant gray box.”

A lack of transparency from elected officials in charge of the data center approval process is another problem for rural Virginians:

In Prince William, Supervisor Weir described a campaign of influence, misinformation, and political gamesmanship.

“Prepare to be lied to,” he said. “Not just by the developers. Not just their lawyers. By your own elected officials.”

Weir described how massive campaign contributions flowed into county races — from both parties. “One senator introduced a bill to retroactively lower property taxes for data center landowners — and scheduled a hearing without telling anyone. We killed it. But it never should’ve happened.”

Despite the potential advantages of data centers, rural residents have been mounting numerous efforts to stop them, such as when Hanover residents fought a data center development in Mountain Road Technology Park. The proposal before the Hanover County Planning commission would have rezoned “nearly 430 acres into a data center campus.” Residents didn’t want that “nightmare” in their backyards, citing noise and pollution as deterrents.

Data centers aren’t good neighbors

Data centers generate round-the-clock industrial noise pollution. Documented examples of the nightmare effects of living near a data center include:

• Spiking blood pressure and chest pain

• Migraines

• Sleep deprivation

• Hearing loss and tinnitus

• Motion sickness and nausea

• Fatigue

• Pets having seizures

Then there’s the possible decrease in property values. Who wants to buy a house with a data center behind it?

All of these problems have been driving resistance to data centers in multiple Virginia counties. The Neighbors For Change Data Centers page is a testament to this hot-button issue.

Rob Wittman is an environmental catastrophe with a poor track record in protecting Virginia’s environment and people. His lack of concern about the impact of data centers on our daily lives and health is abhorrent, especially considering the fact that he helped sabotage the Affordable Care Act and voted for H. R. 1 — both of which make it harder for many thousands of his constituents to access affordable healthcare. So, as the data center health threat looms and we are yet to discover the long-term effects of exposure, Wittman fails to protect us while blocking the discovery and deployment of viable solutions.

Mitigating data center harm

Per Inside Climate News, what was once quiet infrastructure is now a national flashpoint. Some $900 million in data center projects in Virginia have been blocked, and $45.8 billion in projects have been delayed due to increased engagement by citizens and environmental organizations demanding answers and better oversight.

From Michigan to Maine, and from Wisconsin to Virginia — where polls revealed “the public had turned sharply against data centers” — 70% of people now believe the costs of data centers outweighs the benefits. Regardless of their ideology or identity, they’re concerned about noise pollution, higher utility bills, wildlife impacts, and even effects on fertility. At a time when Iran struck “data center infrastructure in the Persian Gulf,” some worry that data centers here could also turn into a national security risk.

Bipartisan opposition to data centers has been eroding political divides. It has inadvertently built a bridge of solidarity between unlikely bedfellows, such as Tea Party residents and progressives who have found common purpose to oppose data center development in Hanover County. Joining forces engenders more trust between residents, empowers ordinary citizens, and highlights common goals in fighting oppressive tech companies and unregulated A.I.

No one denies that we need data centers — but tech billionaires, Wittman, and Trump insist it must be unconstrained by anything other than their anticipated profits. That’s shamefully reckless. Mitigating the harm of data center expansion includes guiding business development with smart growth principles, including:

• Balancing economic development with conservation strategies that benefit our health and communities

• Regulating construction at the state level

• Limiting the number and concentration of data centers

• Distributing more tax revenue to the districts most impacted by data centers

• Giving local government more oversight and enforcement over issues like water usage and sound ordinance

• Diversifying with businesses (e.g., light manufacturing, cold food processing, startups) that nurture jobs and revenue

Responsible legislators and communities are moving towards viable solutions to address data center harms. Virginia’s General Assembly is working on legislative solutions so Virginians can continue to benefit from data centers without being at the mercy of Big Tech— and of Wittman and his congressional cronies.

Another great step in the right direction? Vote Rob Wittman out in November! Here’s everything you need to know about the State of the Race: Virginia’s 2026 Elections.

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What steps should Rob Wittman, Congress, and the state legislature take to minimize data center harms? Let us know what you think by posting comments here or on any of our social media channels: Facebook, Instagram, BlueSky, or Reddit.