Local pushback on data centres

People in small towns from Virginia to Ohio are pushing back on proposed data centers as local debates shift from jobs and tax revenue to water pipes, power lines and monthly electric bills. (news5cleveland.com) (brookings.edu) A data center is a warehouse of computers that stores files, runs websites and trains artificial intelligence systems, and those buildings need constant electricity plus cooling to keep servers from overheating. The Mountaineer reported April 11 that the buildout is accelerating with demand for artificial intelligence, cloud services and surveillance technology. (themountaineer.com) In Strasburg, Virginia, the current fight centers on Project Tallmadge, a proposal for an 87-acre site near Interstate 81 Exit 296 in the town’s industrial park. At a March 17, 2025 public meeting, developer Takanock said the project could include two buildings of about 1 million square feet each. (route11news.com) Residents in Strasburg have asked about water, noise, lighting and power demand. Takanock told attendees the facility would be primarily air-cooled and would need less water than some other data centers, but the company did not give specific noise estimates at that meeting. (route11news.com) (msn.com) In Perry Village, Ohio, dozens of residents packed a council meeting and others gathered outside to oppose a possible billion-dollar campus on more than 200 acres. News 5 Cleveland reported April 11 that the project was not even on the council agenda that night, but the turnout showed how quickly data-center fights are spreading beyond the biggest metro areas. (news5cleveland.com) The electricity issue is bigger than any one town. Brookings wrote in March that new data centers can raise residential power costs in two ways: they drive demand for new generation, and they require new transmission and distribution equipment such as substations and high-voltage lines. (brookings.edu) Brookings said the cost of that new infrastructure is often passed through utility rates, while the exact split between data-center operators and the public can be hard to track because contracts are confidential. The group also said national electricity costs have risen 42% since 2019, outpacing the 29% increase in the Consumer Price Index over the same period. (brookings.edu) Grid planners are already baking that growth into forecasts. PJM Interconnection, the regional grid operator for Virginia and Ohio, said in its 2026 long-term load forecast that data-center development was a contributing factor in forecast changes across 14 of 15 adjusted transmission zones. (pjm.com) (powermag.com) Supporters of data centers say the projects bring construction work, some permanent jobs and local tax revenue. In Strasburg, Takanock said the project would create hundreds of construction jobs for a few years and then long-term jobs in management, maintenance and security, while Ohio construction groups are lobbying to preserve tax breaks they say help land projects. (route11news.com) (news5cleveland.com) Opponents say those benefits can be thin compared with the land, power and water demands. Ohio state Sen. Kent Smith told News 5 Cleveland that the state’s sales-tax break sends aid to “billion-dollar tech companies,” and residents in multiple communities have raised fears about noise, pollution, water use and rising utility costs. (news5cleveland.com) (themountaineer.com) Virginia regulators and lawmakers are already trying to move more grid costs onto the biggest power users. Dominion Energy says a new large-customer rate class starting in 2027 will require data centers to take on more upfront costs and longer commitments, while researchers and advocates are still arguing over how much protection that will give households. (whro.org) (virginiamercury.com) That leaves towns like Strasburg and Perry arguing over a basic local question with national stakes: who gets the tax base, who gets the jobs, and who pays when the servers arrive. (news5cleveland.com) (brookings.edu)