Virginia Data Center Intel

Recent Virginia data center news

• Jul 16, 2026

  FERC Orders Mandatory NERC Reliability Standards for Data Center and Other Computational Loads

  The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has ordered NERC to develop mandatory reliability standards and registry criteria for computational loads, including data centers and crypto mining operations, by year-end 2026.

  • Phase I filing due Dec. 31, 2026: NERC must file one or more new or modified reliability standards for integrating computational loads, plus related Glossary updates and Rules of Procedure changes, including registry criteria for entities to be directly covered.
  • Phase II plan due Mar. 1, 2027: NERC must submit an informational filing describing its work plan for additional standards; FERC cited grid disturbances, including a 1,500 MW data-center load loss and crypto load ride-through events in ERCOT, as evidence of urgency.
• Jul 16, 2026

  High-density Data Center and Colocation Footprints

  365 Data Centers has outlined its high-density data center expansion strategy, combining upgrades to existing facilities with a new AI-ready capacity pipeline.

  • The company says organic expansion will upgrade facilities it already owns and operates in Pennsylvania, Texas, Georgia, and Colorado to support higher-density deployments.
  • Through a partnership with Aphorio Carter, 365 Data Centers says it is developing about 200 MW of AI-ready capacity across key U.S. markets over the next 18-24 months, with initial projects in Colorado and Kentucky and other sites under evaluation in Connecticut, Kentucky, Virginia, Ohio, and Tennessee.
• Jul 14, 2026

  Climate Change Solutions - July 14, 2026

  The Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI) has published a climate and energy newsletter highlighting recent articles, congressional actions, and upcoming briefings.

  • Main announcement/action: EESI promotes an online briefing with the Natural Resources Defense Council on Thursday, July 16 at noon about tracking and reducing nitrogen fertilizer use, associated emissions, and lowering costs for farmers.
  • Background and other details: The newsletter also references a House vote on the SECURE Grid Act (H.R. 7257), a future briefing on severe drought on July 24, and archived materials on extreme heat, grid resilience, and data centers.
  • The issue is presented as a newsletter / event roundup rather than a standalone policy announcement by a company, and it includes EESI contact information at the end.
• Jul 14, 2026

  Summer Orange County Updates

  The Piedmont Environmental Council is providing an update on local land use, environmental, and transmission-line issues in Orange County, Virginia.

  • Data center zoning changes: In April, the Orange County Board of Supervisors removed data centers as a by-right use from the Industrial Zoning District, and the Orange Town Council also removed data centers as a by-right use earlier this year.
  • The town updated its definition of “data center” to describe modern hyperscale data centers; PEC says it will continue to advocate for limits on facilities over 40,000 square feet and for rules blocking an onsite gas power plant without adequate review and a special use permit.
  • PFAS biosolids: Synagro Central, LLC’s renewal request to apply PFAS-contaminated biosolids on Orange County farmland advanced after a June 16 public hearing; DEQ’s final permitting decision is now pending.
  • Transmission line: Valley Link changed proposed routes for its 115-mile, 765 kilovolt Joshua Falls-Yeat transmission project; Orange County filed comments with FERC, and the corridor was named to Preservation Virginia’s 2026 Most Endangered Historic Places list.
• Jul 14, 2026

  Heat pump momentum grows on election-year energy affordability issue, coalition says

  The Building Decarbonization Coalition has released its Q2 momentum report and press release highlighting energy affordability, heat pumps, and building decarbonization policy.

  • The report says utility bills are increasingly part of campaign debates over cost of living, utility profits, rate cases, data centers, climate policy, and corporate accountability.
  • It cites 22 building decarbonization bills introduced in 12 state legislatures this year, with 10 passed into law, including California AB 2313, Virginia SB72, and Maryland’s Utility RELIEF Act.
  • BDC says residential energy bills have risen by a median of about 17% from 2019 to 2024 and argues that reducing spending on gas pipelines and other delivery infrastructure can lower bills; it also notes heat pump shipments have recently outpaced furnace sales in early 2026 data.
• Jul 14, 2026

  Former ethanol plant outside Richmond, Virginia, eyed for 20MW data center

  Volterra Advisors is studying a former ethanol plant in Hopewell, Virginia, for a potential data center at 701 S 6th Ave.

  • Volterra Advisors has been conducting studies on whether the site could host a data center of about 20 MW across 50,000-70,000 sq ft.
  • The article says the site was formerly the Hopewell ethanol facility, acquired by Green Plains Inc. in 2015, later shuttered, and then acquired by NS Development Partners in February; Jeramy Utara said there is potential to re-use the natural gas lines.
• Jul 14, 2026

  FBI considers deploying AI LLM supercomputers with Nvidia B300 GPUs or Google TPUs

  The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is considering acquiring AI supercomputer hardware through a request for information (RFI).

  • The FBI said it seeks information on AI computing products for LLM training, inference, advanced analytics, computer vision, and other secure government workloads.
  • The RFI outlines four hardware categories, including rack-scale AI systems, AI pod architectures, and AI inference accelerators; most deliveries would go to the CJIS Division facility in Clarksburg, West Virginia.
  • The document notes that RFIs are a precursor to procurement and do not guarantee purchase; the FBI could acquire equipment in varying quantities and configurations through delivery orders.
  • Category details include Intel Xeon 6767P or equivalent, HGX B300 eight-GPU assembly, GB300 NVL72-equivalent systems, Google TPU-equivalent architectures, and Nvidia L40-S-equivalent inference hardware.
• Jul 14, 2026

  New York becomes first US state to impose data center moratorium

  New York has announced a one-year moratorium on new large-scale data centers.

  • Governor Kathy Hochul signed the order into law, immediately pausing environmental permits for projects of 50MW or more while a regulatory framework is developed.
  • The framework will include a Generic Environmental Impact Statement on energy demand, water use and quality, and air quality, and local entities will receive guidance within 60 days on community benefits negotiations; the order also directs consideration of a New York Grid Acceleration Fund.
  • The article also references earlier and proposed legislation, including S.9144 introduced by Elizabeth Krueger and a proposed national moratorium, the Artificial Intelligence Data Center Moratorium Act, introduced by Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in March 2026.
• Jul 13, 2026

  Weather grows as one of data center growth’s greatest risks

  Zurich North America has released a report warning that AI-driven hyperscale data centers face a broader set of construction, operational, and insurance risks as buildouts accelerate.

  • Report focus: Zurich’s report, “Data Center Risks Right Now: Six Critical Questions to Enable a Resilient Buildout,” highlights severe weather, compressed construction schedules, energy infrastructure, water availability, downtime, equipment replacement delays, workforce shortages, and geopolitical/regulatory pressure.
  • Key figures: Zurich says hyperscalers are expected to spend $710 billion in capex during 2026, global data center investment could exceed $7 trillion by 2030, and new capacity added from 2026-2030 is expected to total about 100 GW; it also says average insured data center value has risen from about $150 million five years ago to roughly $3 billion today.
• Jul 13, 2026

  County officials deny application for 2,000-acre data center campus in Virginia

  Prince William County officials have rejected the Dulles South data center campus proposal for the first time in the article, ending the 1,940-acre project’s rezoning request.

  • The county board of supervisors unanimously rejected the Dulles South application last week after nearly six hours of public comment.
  • The proposed campus, called Dulles South Innovation Center / Dulles Cloud South, would have covered 1,940 acres and totaled 43 million sq ft of data center space; it was to be rezoned from residential and agricultural use to industrial (I-3).
  • The site was outside the county’s existing data center overlay district and sat near Sanders Lane, Logmill Road, Sudley Road, and Bull Run Creek by the Loudoun County border.
  • The company behind the proposal was not clearly identified; the application was filed through Stewart PLLC and Cooley LLP, with Sanders Lane Assemblage I, LLC named as the contract purchaser/lessee.