More than 300 protesters march in Richmond to demand pause on Virginia data center growth
More than 300 protesters marched in Richmond to demand a pause on data center development in Virginia until stronger protections for energy costs, water supplies, environmental justice and community oversight are adopted. Speakers also criticized Dominion Energy’s proposed merger with NextEra Energy and the expansion of power infrastructure to serve data centers.
More than 300 people marched from Capital Square Park to the Patrick Henry Building in Richmond on Oct. 24, the final event in a two-week statewide protest series organized by the Chesapeake Climate Action Network Action Fund. Speakers from the Virginia League of Conservation Voters, Stop Hanover Data Centers, the Henrico NAACP, Protect Cumberland and the Sierra Club Virginia Chapter called for a moratorium on new data center construction until state leaders adopt stronger clean-energy, water-protection, ratepayer and community-accountability requirements.
Protesters also raised concerns about electricity demand, gas plants and transmission lines built to support data centers. Jennifer Corpus of Stop Virginia Data Centers criticized the proposed Dominion Energy-NextEra Energy merger, while Steve Herring of Protect Cumberland said Dominion’s grid expansion and a gas plant approved by the Cumberland County Board of Supervisors would primarily serve data centers rather than residents. Other speakers, including Sarah Ahmed and Monica Hutchinson, emphasized rising utility costs, strained water supplies and the disproportionate impact of industrial infrastructure on Black and brown communities.