Editors’ note: This article was updated on June 13, 2025, to note that the June 16 lunch and learn was canceled.
Albemarle County is revising its regulations on data centers, and it wants the community to be involved.
The county is hosting a community information session June 30. A lunch and learn session previously scheduled for June 16 was canceled after a June 12 cybersecurity incident affected the county’s network.
Data centers are large, often warehouse-like buildings that hold rows and rows of computer servers that store and process digital information. They’re used for everything from email to cloud storage, smartphone apps and artificial intelligence (AI).
They also use a lot of electricity and a lot of water, according to an Associated Press report from January.
Demand for these facilities are growing across the world, the country, and across Virginia — 35% of the world’s data centers are located in Northern Virginia, according to a March 2025 Cardinal News report.
Now they’re popping up all over the state. An interactive map from Piedmont Environmental Council, a nonprofit environmental advocacy organization, shows all existing as well as planned data centers throughout Virginia.
Currently, there are no data centers in, or planned for, Albemarle County.
But in case a proposal for one does come in, the county wants to be prepared, said Bill Fritz, Development Process Manager in the planning division of the Albemarle County Community Development Office.
“Data centers are a thing,” said Fritz. “They’re out there, and it would be wise of the county to be prepared in the case that we get an application.”
The Board of Supervisors adopted temporary regulations in May, but a permanent ordinance is needed, Fritz said. The interim regulations include limiting data center size to 40,000 square feet — that’s a bit smaller than a regulation size American football field, which covers a surface area of about 57,600 square feet. Anything larger would require a special use permit, which only the Board of Supervisors can grant.
“We’re early in the process,” Fritz said. Currently, county staff are researching data centers — their effects on local economies and on the built and natural environment. Staff are also looking into how other communities across the state and country have shaped their data center regulations and mitigated the impacts of them.
While the county wouldn’t be able to regulate a data center’s electricity usage, it could regulate other things, such as physical size and shape, water use, and permissible noise level, Fritz said.
There’s an economic component to the planning, too.
“This work is also part of a broader effort to diversify our economy, reduce long-term tax pressures on residents, and direct growth to areas with existing infrastructure,” Albemarle County spokesperson Abbey Stumpf wrote in an email to Charlottesville Tomorrow.
Debate over the pros and cons of data centers have heated up in Virginia in recent years, the Virginia Mercury reported in May 2024. Some say that data centers can be financially beneficial to a locality by adding jobs and local tax revenue, while others say that the effects the centers have on the natural and built environment, particularly the strain on electrical and water infrastructure, negate those benefits.
As the county weighs its options, it wants to hear from residents, said Fritz.
“We want to hear what the people of Albemarle County have to say.” After all, they might have concerns or ideas staff hadn’t thought of, he added.
The Albemarle County website has more information on the data center regulatory review, including a step-by-step explanation of the process.
Take Action
Learn more about data centers and how Albemarle County is considering regulating them:
An in-person open house will be held June 30, 6 to 8 p.m at Albemarle County Office Building, Room C, 1600 5th St. See more details and register here.
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