Virginia Beach Data Center Protest Demands State Moratorium
More than 30 residents rallied in Virginia Beach to demand that Virginia impose a statewide moratorium on new data center construction. Activists cited concerns about electricity demand, water scarcity, farmland and ecological impacts, while Virginia Beach and Chesapeake have adopted temporary local moratoriums and other restrictions.
More than 30 Hampton Roads residents, including Chesapeake residents Michael Jamieson and Linda Tindell, protested at Virginia Beach Town Center as part of a statewide tour calling for a halt to new data center construction. Organizers, including the Chesapeake Climate Action Network and the Virginia League of Conservation Voters, said the industry’s rapid growth threatens ecosystems, farmland, water supplies and household electricity costs. Tindell attended with her donkey, Darla.
Virginia Beach enacted a 12-month moratorium on permit applications for large and hyperscale data centers, while Chesapeake adopted an eight-month moratorium and additional siting restrictions after blocking a proposed 350,000-square-foot facility. Gov. Abigail Spanberger signed an executive order creating a statewide Data Center Accountability Framework, but protesters said it does not amount to the construction freeze they seek. The state is also facing rising data center power demand and concerns over declining groundwater availability in eastern Virginia, even as Virginia Beach supports Globalinx’s expansion of a subsea cable landing and colocation campus.