When plans first dropped for a big new data centre next to Lindsay Shaw’s home in Sterling, Virginia, she welcomed it.
asserted
she → drop → it
“It is what it is,” she thought at the time.
asserted
she → think → time
“We’re in the data centre capital of the world.”
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We → ’re → world
What she didn’t know then was that this facility by Vantage Data Centres would not be connected to the electricity grid, and would be powered by its own gas turbines, at least for now.
asserted
facility → know → turbines
The resulting noise, which typically involves a high-pitched whistle sound, has become unbearable for many in the neighbourhood.
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which → result → neighbourhood
“It gets so loud some nights you can hear it over the TV in my house,” says Shaw, 38.
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Shaw → get → house
“You can hear it over the air-conditioners, you can hear it over the lawnmower, you can hear it over anything else.”
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you → hear → anything
Most were built between 2019 and 2014, but the spree has continued: in 2025, the county issued permits for more than 10 million square feet of data centre space.
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county → build → space
Drive along Waxpool Road or Loudoun County Parkway, and you will see the products of this boom: big boxes of largely windowless buildings with names like Equinix, QTS and H5, and dirt mounds surrounded by cranes.
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you → drive → cranes
It is estimated that 70 per cent of global traffic passes through or is created in Loudoun County’s “data centre alley”.
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cent → estimate → alley
But many of the county’s 450,000 residents – like Americans around the country – have had enough.
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many → have → enough
On Tuesday night, dozens spoke at a public meeting to call for a pause on data centre approvals, which the board of county supervisors ultimately voted to support.
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board → speak → supervisors
A Loudoun resident for 20 years, Sarah Chen said: “I’ve watched it go from green pastures with livestock to feeling like livestock as our homes and health have been sold out to feed corporate greed.
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homes → say → greed
“We’ve built more than enough data centres in this county.
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We → build → county
We must have a full stop, and this moratorium is the beginning.”
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moratorium → have → stop
Loudoun County alone has more data centres than Australia.
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County → have → Australia
That may change if state and federal governments forge ahead with plans to encourage AI development, while imposing rules and standards on where large AI data centres can be built and the power and water they consume.
uncertain
they → change → built
Whether Loudoun serves as a road map or a cautionary tale depends on who you talk to.
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you → serve → who
This area of Virginia, just outside Washington DC, became a data centre powerhouse because of the dense fibre optic network built there in the 1990s, when AOL established a primary gateway in Loudoun County.
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AOL → become → County
The board of supervisors also granted by-right planning permission for data centres, allowing them to be built anywhere zoned for office development.
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them → grant → development
Virginia’s state government maintains several financial incentives for data centres, reducing upfront costs and corporate income tax.
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government → maintain → costs
County supervisor Juli Briskman says the true catalyst for the boom was the Great Recession of 2008-09, which arose from the US subprime mortgage crisis.
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which → say → crisis
“Communities were struggling with their tax base and tax revenue because of the dip in housing values,” she says.
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she → struggle → values
“The great folks at our economic development department realised, ‘Hey, we have this fibre in the ground, we have the infrastructure in place that we could start welcoming this newish industry.’
uncertain
we → realise → industry
Economically, there is no doubt this has been a winner for Loudoun County – which is frequently cited as the wealthiest in America.
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which → be → America
Residents here enjoy very high household incomes, and the data centres raise $US1.2 billion ($1.68 billion) a year in tax revenue and climbing – accounting for 40 per cent of the county’s budget.
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centres → enjoy → budget
That income subsidises increased services while enabling the county to reduce property taxes.
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income → subsidise → taxes
It has cut real property taxes every year for the past 10 years, from $1.145 per $100 of assessed value to $0.805, saving homeowners thousands of dollars a year.
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It → cut → dollars
“We’ve been able to almost eliminate the car tax, which is a hated tax in Virginia,” Briskman says.
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Briskman → eliminate → Virginia
“We’ve been fully funding our excellent public school system, which is of course an economic driver.”
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which → fund → course
She enumerates other benefits: a mental health facility built in two years, a $US22 million cheque to acquire and preserve Oak Hill, the historic estate of former president James Monroe.
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She → enumerate → Monroe
“There aren’t a lot of jurisdictions in the state where they could do that.”
uncertain
they → be → that
And yet Briskman, a Democrat, is leading the charge to crack down on data centres.
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Briskman → lead → centres
“The revenue is wonderful, in large part,” she says.
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she → say → part
“But that’s just not an argument that’s holding water any more with our communities.”
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that → ’ → communities
On a sunny weekday morning, Briskman takes this masthead on a walk around the off-grid Vantage data centre in Sterling, powered by its eight gas turbines.
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Briskman → take → turbines
A low hum is audible out the front, but it’s when we go to the rear that the turbines’ high-pitched sound grows loud.
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sound → ’ → rear
This section abuts a business centre, not homes.
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section → abut → centre
There is a wall of backup diesel generators, which Lindsay Shaw says were supposed to be for emergencies but end up being used once or twice a month.
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Shaw → be → emergencies
“When you walk out you can taste the smoke, like walking into a pack of cigarettes,” she says.
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she → walk → cigarettes
…and 48 more, not listed.
The Aporia
