Virginia Data Center Intel

Recent Virginia data center news

• Jul 2, 2026

  Starwood raises $10.2bn for new real estate fund

  Starwood Capital Group has announced the final closing of its latest opportunistic real estate fund, Starwood Distressed Opportunity Fund XIII (SOF XIII), with capital commitments in excess of $10.2 billion.

  • The fund will target real assets globally, with a primary focus on residential, data center, industrial and hospitality assets across the US and Europe.
  • Starwood said SOF XIII has already closed or committed to 20 transactions and deployed more than $3 billion of equity; the firm also noted its assets under management are about $130 billion.
  • Barry Sternlicht, chairman and CEO, said the firm is “excited about the opportunities we have already sourced for this fund” and that Starwood is “well-positioned to execute on opportunities” in the current market.
• Jul 2, 2026

  EdgeCore tops outs second data center in Virginia

  EdgeCore has announced it has topped out its 42MW AS02 facility at its Ashburn campus in Sterling, Loudoun County, Virginia.

  • The AS02 building reached topping out this week at 45831 Maries Road and 1501 Moran Road; the campus will total 114MW of critical load across 685,000 square feet at full build-out.
  • EdgeCore said the milestone marks progress at its Ashburn campus and broader growth in northern and central Virginia; the first building, AS01 (72MW), topped out in September 2025 and is due live in November.
  • EdgeCore launched in 2018 and was acquired by Partners Group in 2022, which planned to invest up to $1.2 billion in the acquisition and build-out of data center sites.
  • The company also operates in Silicon Valley, Greater Phoenix, and Reno, Nevada, and is developing additional sites in Virginia, including planned campuses in Culpeper County and Louisa County.
• Jul 2, 2026

  AWS says it added more data center capacity "than any other company" in 2025, including 1.2GW in Q4

  Amazon Web Services (AWS) has reported record data center capacity growth in its latest annual sustainability report.

  • AWS said it added more data center capacity globally than any other company last year, including more than 1.2 GW in Q4 alone.
  • Amazon said it added 3.8 GW of data center capacity from October 2024 to October 2025 and that AWS was double the power capacity it had in 2022, with a goal to double again by 2027.
  • AWS’s cloud business operated 56.839 million square feet of data center and office space in 2025, up 16% from 2024; about half was owned and the rest leased.
  • The article also cites Microsoft’s and Google’s market shares for context, and mentions UK and Virginia data center capacity figures, but no new deal or project announcement from those entities.
• Jul 1, 2026

  Remington Tech Park Developer Plans a Permanent Gas Fuel Cell Power Plant

  PointOne has proposed a permanent natural-gas fuel cell power plant for the Remington Tech Park; the Piedmont Environmental Council (PEC) is asking the Fauquier County Board of Supervisors to defer its July 9 hearing and seek more information.

  • Project details & request: PEC asks the Board to defer the July 9, 2026 public hearing (6:30 p.m., Warrenton Town Hall) so PointOne can provide missing technical details; the revised proposal (submitted June 4, 2026) replaces 13 gas turbines with 488 natural-gas fuel cells, retains nearly 200 diesel backup generators with above-ground fuel storage, and requires a new gas pipeline extension plus a natural gas gate station and enough gas to power 125,000 homes across Fauquier, Clarke, Warren, Rappahannock, Culpeper, and Stafford counties.
  • Background & governance concerns: PEC notes the Board has <30 days to review the June 4 filing (vs ~6 months for the earlier turbine proposal); the Planning Commission voted 3-2 to recommend denial (March 18) of the earlier turbine application; PEC requests the Board defer until it can evaluate fire/electrical/building codes, develop emergency management and risk mitigation policies for a private fuel cell utility, and create a zoning/ regulatory framework for private utilities and performance standards for large fuel cell arrays.
• Jul 1, 2026

  Against the Wind: Inside the Completion of America’s Largest Offshore Wind Plant

  Dominion Energy has announced that the 2.6-GW Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind (CVOW) project delivered first power to the Virginia grid in March 2026.

  • Project milestone and status: CVOW achieved a first power milestone in March 2026 while turbine installation and commissioning continue across the 176-turbine commercial array (Siemens Gamesa SG 14-222 DD). The project is a 2.6 GW regulated, utility-owned asset with an updated budget of about $11.4 billion and an expected service (COD) mid-2027 per NextEra; Dominion previously sold a 50% noncontrolling stake to Stonepeak in 2024 (transaction closed Oct 2024, generating about $2.6 billion for Dominion).
  • Permitting, risks, and permits: CVOW cleared the federal permitting stack (BOEM final EIS Sept 2023; ROD Oct 2023; Construction and Operations Plan and Army Corps permit Jan 2024; EPA OCS air preconstruction permit Apr 2024) and completed FAST-41 coordination, survived a 90-day DOI stop-work order (Dec 22, 2025) and obtained a preliminary injunction (Jan 16, 2026) to resume work. Dominion also holds a separate CVOW-South BOEM lease won Aug 14, 2024 for $17.7 million (approx. 176,505 acres) that could support ~800 MW in the 2030s.
• Jun 30, 2026

  Climate Change Solutions - June 30, 2026

  The Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI) recaps Expo2026 panels and highlights recent policy developments.

  • Main announcement: EESI summarizes the 29th annual Congressional Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency EXPO and Policy Forum (Expo2026), providing links to full recorded panels on topics including permitting reform, energy affordability, data centers, and building and grid resilience; the newsletter links to EESI’s YouTube recordings and lists speakers and organizations for each session.
  • Policy and event updates: The newsletter reports the Senate Agriculture Committee’s draft Farm Bill (PDF link provided) and notes the House passed H.R.7567 in April; it also records recent congressional actions including passage of S.629 (Emergency Conservation Program Improvement Act) through the House, passage of S.4822 (Saving the Ocean Observatories Initiative Act of 2026) in the Senate, reintroduction of S.4867 (Small Farm Conservation Act), and introduction of S.4870 to reauthorize Earth MRI; it lists upcoming EESI briefings on July 16, 2026 (Nitrogen pollution research roadmap) and July 24, 2026 (drought impacts).
• Jun 29, 2026

  Send SCC Comments: Expanded Southwest Mountains Transmission Line

  Dominion Energy has applied to rebuild and expand the Charlottesville-Gordonsville 230 kV transmission line into a double-circuit, driven by recent data center requests.

  • Project details: Dominion Energy submitted an application on April 23, 2026 (SCC Case No. PUR-2026-00050) to wreck, rebuild and expand 15.8 miles of an existing single-circuit 230 kV line between Charlottesville and Gordonsville into a double-circuit 230 kV line; PEC reports the proposal is driven by 26 data center requests in Louisa and Culpeper counties and would install steel towers ~2–3x the height of existing wood structures.
  • Background and next steps: PEC is advocating for consideration of alternatives and mitigation including undergrounding portions of the line, use of lowest feasible towers with dull brown weathering steel, minimizing construction disturbance, and submitting comments or requesting a public hearing to the SCC by July 8, 2026 (instructions and sample comment/hearing request letters provided).
• Jun 29, 2026

  Data center developer Black Chamber looks to buy Virginia church next to planned AWS campus

  Manassas Church of the Brethren is weighing an offer from Black Chamber Partners to buy its 7-acre property at 10047 Nokesville Road.

  • Offer and church response: The church received an offer from Black Chamber to acquire the 7-acre site at 10047 Nokesville Road; Rev. Mandy North said the congregation’s “initial gut was to decline the offer,” adding “We aren’t for sale. We’ve been in ministry for 130 years. We still have 130 years of ministry here.” The value of the proposal has not been shared. If the church sells, it would seek to build a new church on 5 acres at the Landing at Cannon Branch (land owned by the City of Manassas), though the city has indicated interest in more commercial users for that site.
  • Background and nearby transactions:Black Chamber (founded 2019, data-center focused private equity/developer) has acquired 12 acres between the church and Dean Drive for around $38.8 million (via Nova Pineapple Farms LLC), equating to roughly $3 million per acre. The church property is zoned industrial; Micron operates across the street and Amazon is planning a nearby data center campus and owns multiple local plots; Black Chamber is known to be active in Loudoun and Prince William counties and is working with Amazon on some projects.
• Jun 29, 2026

  Details revealed for Google's Project Skye data center campus in Chesterfield County, Virginia

  Google has filed details of its planned “Project Skye” data center campus with the US Army Corps of Engineers.

  • Project details: The filing describes a campus on 887.7 acres (south of Genito Road, east of Moseley Road, north of Duval Road) proposing five data center buildings, three substations, plus parking, roads, utilities, and stormwater management facilities. The public notice is recorded as NAO-2026-00282 / VMRC-26-0360.
  • Context and timeline: Project Skye is part of Google’s broader $9 billion Virginia investment program announced in 2025; Google has had development activity in the Richmond/central-eastern Virginia area since 2017 and other local projects referenced include Project Loch, Project Peanut, a Sharpless Enterprises 181-acre campus approved in March 2024, and a land purchase in Botetourt County in June 2025.
• Jun 29, 2026

  The Blue-Collar Gold Rush in Data Centers

  DataBank says the data center industry is facing a skilled labor shortage and is expanding recruitment, training, and local partnerships to secure talent.

  • Main action: DataBank is investing in talent pipelines, workforce partnerships, and local training events (examples: an Atlanta career exploration event with nearly 20 young people; a Culpeper, VA partnership hosting 40 electrical students) to address a sector-wide shortage in skilled trades. The company cites concrete workforce metrics: a 2025 Deloitte survey finding 63% of data center executives report a shortage of skilled labor, and construction peak crew sizes rising from ~750 to 4,000+ on single campuses, with massive capacity activation expected in the second half of 2026 into 2027.
  • Background/details: DataBank emphasizes broad sourcing strategies including military veterans, trade school partnerships, and early contractor commitments; it highlights the economics of trade pathways (example: an IBEW-trained worker can earn close to six figures after four years) and frames these programs as long-term investments and immediate operational priorities tied to near-term build schedules.