Citizens speak out against a data center
By DAVID QUESENBERRY
Patriot Publishing
Citizens from around the New River Valley spoke to the Board members of the Virginia’s First Regional Industrial Authority and in no uncertain terms expressed their opposition to any data centers being brought into the region.
Primary complaints by speakers against data centers were fear of depletion of existing water and electrical resources, lack of job creation, pollution, health hazards, higher electrical and water costs for local residents, and the cost of infrastructure for the centers.
The remarks were made during the Public Comment portion of the Board’s June 10th meeting at the Pulaski County Innovation Center located in Fairlawn.
Betsy Mabry of Pulaski County spoke to the issue of a proposed power plant and data center in Pulaski County. Mabry mentioned that the $3 billion project was funded by the 2025 Virginia General Assembly and included $15 million for site identification and development.
Virginia First, she said, owns the site that was identified in Dublin.
“We are asking for transparency regarding this project and are concerned knowing the ramifications of bringing ‘big tech’ to Pulaski County.”
Mabry said opposition to data centers was growing with seven out of ten persons opposing them and 200 groups nationwide actively opposing centers in their areas. Contributing to the lack of transparency was the use by developers of non-disclosure agreements with local officials resulting in projects being announced only weeks before voting for approval.
Mabry continued, “Jurisdictions, especially those which are strapped for funds, are enticed by the generous financial gains, and sell out their citizens sometimes and the citizen’s ultimate best interests, for a narrative that speaks to how citizens will benefit from lower taxes, more investment in schools, and other public services. That’s the entrapment that politicians and developers now aligned with ‘big tech’ billionaires now bring to rural Southwest Virginia. We Pulaski County citizens, including the towns of Pulaski and Dublin have the most to lose by our representatives casting their 50 percent plus controlling interest voting shares in favor of a data center power plant.”
Mabry again requested transparency and accountability from those involved in the decision. She ended her remarks with a quote from a source on data centers, “They took the water, the power and the land first, then the data centers became more important than the people.”
Zach Boyer of Dublin voiced his opposition to a data center in the Commerce Park.
“The thing that worries me the most is the potential impacts on the health of the people near the data center and the environment,” he said, adding studies find that data centers contribute to PFA (“forever chemicals”) contamination of water.
“I just don’t want you all to get the idea from some company that is selling the idea of data centers that they’re totally safe and that a ‘closed loop system’ is so much better than an open loop system.” He felt it was a marketing ploy to make data centers more acceptable.
He also said he had read studies on data centers that indicated that close to a center, cancer rates increased as did respiratory illness, along with heat and noise emissions.
Boyer mentioned an email statement from a member of the Pulaski County Board of Supervisors stating that water should not be a problem for a data center since they have the New River. He said it upset him that “someone sees the river as a resource to be exploited by some outside company.” On the other hand, he said, if the data center was not going to use that much water, why do you need a river?
Boyer finished his remarks by saying, “I don’t want a sales pitch for some tech company that might pollute our area and poison the people who live here to override taking care of where we live.”
Steve Prescott of Pulaski expressed concern over a data center’s impact on electrical costs. He said according to a study prepared by the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission (JLARC), PJM, Appalachian Power and Dominion Power expect data centers to triple their use of electricity by 2050. While current trends are for moderate growth he said, the desire is for unrestrained growth. This will lead to an increase in cost for electrical service to obtain funds to pay the cost of borrowing for new infrastructure.
Another trend adding to increased electrical costs is grid load and market conditions outpacing legislation causing prices to rise through supply and demand. The JLARC study noted that there would be problems with electricity supply even with moderate growth.
Prescott questioned the need for more data centers, since Virginia alone had more than China. He felt the push to build centers to remain competitive was misleading.
Mark Stump of Radford also had concerns on data centers increasing electrical costs for consumers as well as the potential burdens on natural resources and on residents’ health. Stump presented a petition with 1,300 signatures opposing the data center.
“Ruining the beauty and wildlife of Appalachia is never worth anything that AI data centers could generate” he said.
One speaker expressed her frustration over the issue.
Hazel Wines of Pulaski County said, “I have done my best to contact my representatives and let them know how I feel,” she said, “and was told this was where you need to come. They don’t want to hear it at the Board of Supervisors meeting. They don’t want to hear it at Town Council. Please, do not sell out our resources, Claytor Lake, the New River, don’t sell them out to outside interests.”
Wines said she was also concerned that a site for a data center could end up like other brownfield sites in Pulaski and increase the environmental stress on the New River.
Jen Carroll from Pulaski County asked several questions of the Board which she felt needed to be considered. She questioned where the water would come from for a center and what safeguards would be in place to prevent reduction or pollution of the water supply. She asked where the wastewater would go as well as its chemical makeup and temperature. Carroll asked who would fund the electrical infrastructure for a center. She also inquired how a center would meet Virginia First’s covenants with regard to noise, vibration, fumes, etc. and how much light and noise pollution would be created.
She also asked the Board were any Non-Disclosure Agreements in place and could assurances be made that there would not be any. On financial matters she asked how much revenue would the community lose due to Virginia-granted tax exemptions and how much property values would go down. In her final question, Carroll asked the Board what community hearings would be held in members’ localities to share input.
The Board made no comment to any of these questions or remarks.
Other speakers mentioned the few number of permanent jobs a center created compared to other economic development initiatives and urged that other projects more in keeping with the rural nature of the area be sought. Such development projects mentioned include agriculture, tourism, small business, recreation as alternatives that fit into the rural nature of the region.
At the end of the public comments section, the Board went into Closed Session as allowed under the Code of Virginia to discuss an undisclosed prospective business or industry or the expansion of an existing industry and investment of public funds
The next meeting of the Virginia First Regional Industrial Facility Authority is scheduled for September 9, 2026.