Virginia court halts Digital Gateway data center project

The Virginia Court of Appeals voided rezoning decisions that underpinned the Digital Gateway project, effectively halting the proposal.

• Main announcement: The Virginia Court of Appeals issued a unanimous ruling (March 31, 2026) declaring the three rezoning decisions for the Digital Gateway proposal void from the outset because the Prince William County Board of Supervisors failed to properly notify the public before its December 2023 hearing; the decision combines lawsuits brought by the Oak Valley Homeowners Association, nearby residents, and the American Battlefield Trust and bars an appeal to the Virginia Supreme Court. Key project details: 37 data centers, 14 substations, 22 million square feet (equivalent to ~144 Walmart Supercenters) across ~2,100 acres; PEC estimated 3–6 gigawatts of potential power demand and warned of risks to the Occoquan watershed serving 800,000 people and Manassas National Battlefield Park (serving >700,000 visitors).
• Background & near-term actions: PEC and partners opposed and litigated the rezoning (including filing an amicus curiae); the email urges legislative action to end or phase out the state data center sales tax exemption (reported at $1.9 billion in 2025). Legislators reconvene April 23, 2026 to try to finalize the budget; the Senate proposed to phase out the sales tax break while the House kept it. Additional concrete facts: PEC cites $14.4 billion as Virginia outdoor recreation economic value (BEA 2024 data); Dominion Energy is building related infrastructure and several transmission projects have been proposed to serve data center loads.