DATA CENTER RESOURCES
This page includes news and credible research on data centers, and highlights ways that you can join Nature Forward’s campaigns to make data center development in the DMV more sustainable and more reflective of community input.
Data Centers 101: Virginia, Maryland, and Beyond
Take a deep dive into the region’s growing challenge with data center development. Data centers are large warehouse-like facilities that house the computer servers that store vast amounts of information and power everything from streaming services, online meetings, cloud computing, and, of course, artificial intelligence (AI).
While we recognize the vital importance of data centers in our modern society, we also acknowledge the devastating impacts their massive energy, water, and land use can have on nature and people if data centers aren’t subject to proper oversight and public input. Learn more in this presentation by Nature Forward’s Renee Grebe, Northern Virginia (NOVA) Conservation Advocate, Nature Forward’s Angie McCarthy, Maryland Conservation Advocate, and moderator Annabelle Harvey, Federal Policy Coordinator for the Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF). This presentation was delivered on October 30, 2025, as part of CBF’s “Volunteers as Chesapeake Stewards (VoiCeS)” program.
Watch our Conservation Café presentations on Data Centers
Unpaid Toll: The Health Impacts of Data Centers
Presenter:
Dr. Shaolei Ren
Associate Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering
University of California (UC) Riverside
Data Centers: Getting MD and VA to Take Action
Presenter:
Julie Bolthouse
Director of Land Use
Piedmont Environmental Council
Data Centers and local National Parks:
Do They Compute?
Presenter:
Kyle Hart
Mid-Atlantic Program Manager
National Parks Conservation Association
Data Centers:
How AI Is Keeping Us from
Our Climate Goals!
Presenter:
Ann Bennett
Land Use Chair
Virginia Sierra Club
Read our Nature Forward Conservation Blogs
- Speak Up For Data Center Protections In Fairfax County
(October 11, 2025) - Speak up for a stronger Data Center Zoning Ordinance
(Updated Aug 5, 2024) - Virginia’s General Assembly: some wins and a long road
(May 23, 2024) - 2024 Virginia General Assembly Legislative Priorities
(Feb 1, 2024)
- Stop The Data Center At Landover Mall
(September 26, 2025) - We MUST Override Gov. Moore’s Veto of the Data Center Study Bill
(May 29, 2025) - Take Action On Prince George’s Data Center BIll
(Updated Nov 19, 2024) - Data Center Frontiers Summit Recap
(October 24, 2024)
Data Centers in the News
America’s Most Endangered Rivers Report: Potomac River
– American Rivers (2026)
Dark Clouds: The Risks of Unchecked Data Centers
– Nature Forward Quarterly (Fall 2024)
Virginia News
- Prince William County withdraws from Digital Gateway lawsuit, reversing course from 2023
– Inside NOVA (April 14, 2026) - Starwood Proposal Shrouded in Secrecy
– Fairfax Times (March 20, 2026) - Situating Virginia’s Data Center Alley in a New Era of Tech Power
– Data & Society (December 3, 2025) - How Did This State Become the Data Center Capital of the World?
– Inside Climate News (October 26, 2025) - Virginia’s data center construction boom is even bigger than you think. One company is behind it.
– Business Insider (October 8, 2025) - Energy demand will outstrip supply in Virginia as data centers proliferate
– Cardinal News (Apr 11, 2025) - County supervisors approve larger data centers off Wellington Road in Manassas
– Prince Williams Times (Apr 3, 2025)
Maryland News
- Responsible AI: Navigating Untold Operational Costs
– Forbes (April 77, 2026) - As Maryland data centers multiply, power grid struggles to keep up
– What’s Up? Magazine via Capitol New Service (March 23, 2026) - Battles over data centers intensify in State House and communities
– Maryland Matters (March 20, 2026) - Moore, other PJM governors push for changes at the nation’s biggest electric grid
– Maryland Matters (January 17, 2026) - IN 2026, more data center regulations could be coming in Maryland
– Maryland Matters (January 3, 2026) - Maryland lawmakers push forward data center impact report, overriding Gov. Moore’s veto
– Technical.ly (December 16, 2025) - Massive data centers invaded Virginia – and Maryland wants to be next
– The Baltimore Banner (October 16, 2025) - Data center boom sparks sticker shock for PJM ratepayers
– POLITICO (October 3, 2025)
More Information and Resources
Quick Summaries
Infographic:
Top 50 Data Center Markets by Power Consumption (Jan. 2024)
8-minute video:
The Hidden Costs of the Cloud
Piedmont Environmental Council provides a quick overview of data center development in Northern Virginia.
Virginia Map of
Data Centers
A crowd-sourced map that provides a snapshot of the current and future data center footprint in Virginia.
Sierra Club Virginia’s Impact Report
The Impacts of Unconstrained Data Center Growth
Deeper Dives into Data and Recommendations
Report by Sierra Club Virginia
(60 pages)
“Unconstrained Demand: Virginia’s Data Center Expansion and Its Impacts”
(July 2025)
Sierra Club’s Position Paper
(34 pages)
“Demanding Better: How growing demand for electricity
can drive a cleaner grid”
(September 2024)
Virginia’s study of
data center issues
This report to the Governor and the General Assembly of Virginia provides a deep dive into the issues and policy recommendations
(December 2024)
Perspectives from Elected Officials
- Ashburn (VA) Supervisor Mike Turner’s Position Paper: Data Center Capital of the World “A Strategy for a Changing Paradigm” offers Supervisor Turner’s opinions and recommendations as a decision maker in the county that leads the US in regards to data center concentrations. READ HERE
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