Prince William County voters back data center opponents in primary

Data center expansion in Northern Virginia may have led to a stunning upset in Tuesday’s primary, when a political newcomer defeated the Prince William County Board of Supervisors chair.

Democrat Ann Wheeler has been the driving force behind a massive change in the county’s comprehensive plan, opening the door to data center development even in rural areas of the county.

Last year, she led a majority on the Board of Supervisors that approved the Prince William Digital Gateway, a plan to rezone more than 2,000 acres of farmland to accept data centers, which house the computer servers and hardware required to support modern internet use. The plan – approved despite vocal opposition from residents concerned that the data centers are noisy, ugly and consume massive amounts of electricity that require the addition of high-voltage transmission lines – prompted one of the region's biggest land-use disputes in decades.

Opponents see Wheeler’s primary loss to Deshundra Jefferson as a clear message about data centers. 

“That industry is just rolling over us in Prince William County,” data center opponent Bill Wright said. “This board has allowed those guys to do whatever the heck they want, and the citizens are saying, ‘Enough! We are not your doormats.’” 

In a statement, Wheeler rejected the idea that her data center position alone brought her defeat, writing in part, “It is a new day in the county, and certain forces who want to take us backward have found the data center issue a way to rally their base.”

“Data centers do not belong everywhere,” Jefferson said. “Industrial buildings do not belong in residential communities.”

She said residents also want the county to tax data centers at a higher rate.

On the Republican side, Jeanine Lawson won the nomination, campaigning against Wheeler’s data center plan.

“I have no plans of changing course on my campaign,” she said.

Already a board member, she said she’ll push her Democratic colleagues to change course.

“I think that the other colleagues of mine that have been pressing forward with what I would say is reckless development, and specifically data center projects, should tap the brakes and reconsider the direction they are going,” Lawson said. “Maybe slam the brakes is a better way to put it.”

Leaders of a coalition of homeowner associations fighting the expanded data center plan endorsed Jefferson and Lawson in the primary. 

“We’re gratified that the two candidates that won both share similar views on industrial data center development and proliferation,” said Kathy Kulick of HOA Roundtable. 

They’ll turn their attention to getting the Democratic board members to reconsider. 

“Any member of that board that sits there and thinks that they’re not going to have the same outcome when it comes November if they don’t turn the corner now and start listening to citizens is making a political mistake beyond measure,” Oak Valley HOA President Mack Haddow said.

Those opponents and others are calling on Wheeler to defer any further decision on data centers until a new board takes office next year. 

Full statement from Wheeler:

“To attribute Tuesday’s outcome only to data centers is to not fully understand the intricacies of the changes that have occurred in Prince William County over the last three and a half years. There has been a shift in the balance of power, with many new people finally having a seat at the table.  It is a new day in the county and certain forces who want to take us backward have found the data center issue a way to rally their base.  My opponent, Deshundra Jefferson, is not anti-data center and has said so. She objected to certain aspects of data center development, not all of it.  Other forces, separate from Jefferson, are using this as a wholesale way to undermine the progress achieved in other areas and take Prince William county backward. I trust they will not prevail.”

Northern Virginia has largest concentration of data centers

Northern Virginia is home to the world's largest concentration of data centers. Tech companies like to place the centers there, in part because the region's proximity to the nation's traditional internet backbone allows the servers in those data centers to save nanoseconds that are crucial to support financial transactions, gaming technology and other time-sensitive applications.

While data center proposals have prompted opposition from neighboring residents, local governments have been reluctant to turn them away because of the tax revenue they generate. In neighboring Loudoun County, the world's largest concentration of data centers now contributes 30% of the county's general fund revenue and has resulted in significant cuts to the county's residential property tax rate.

Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin has embraced data centers. Earlier this year, Youngkin and Amazon Web Services announced a $35 billion plan to invest in data centers across the state.

Youngkin, on a recent tour of Amazon's new headquarters complex in Arlington, said he still believes the data center deal is a good one. He emphasized that the deal contemplates putting data centers across the state, not just in northern Virginia jurisdictions that are becoming increasingly resistant.

“We can have great economic development projects and we can have a great place to live,” he said.