RICHMOND, Va. (WWBT) - Hundreds of people rallied at the Bell Tower on Capitol Square Saturday, calling for a pause on data center construction and approvals across Virginia.
Organizers said they want new statewide protections for air, water and electricity costs before more data centers are built.
At this rally, protestors and bystanders could hear a new slogan being chanted at the demonstrations: “Hey, hey, ho, ho, data centers have got to go.”
It started in Virginia Beach two weeks ago as part of a statewide campaign to pause data center development.
On Saturday, the campaign reached the steps of the state Capitol. The effort this time around was started by the Chesapeake Climate Action Network Fund and several other local organizations.
Sarah Ahmed, with the Virginia League of Conservation Voters, told the crowd that hundreds of Virginians have marched over the past two weeks “with one clear collective voice” calling to stop data center development until reforms are in place.
“The corporations counting on us to stay divided are also counting on us to believe that someone else is going to handle it. But there is no someone else. There is us,” said Jennifer Corpus, founder of Friends of Hanover.
Corpus organized Friends of Hanover after four data center proposals were submitted in Hanover County. Two developers withdrew, a third data center was voted down, and opposition to a fourth proposal is ongoing.
Corpus is also co-founder of Stop Virginia Data Centers, which she described as a nonpartisan statewide coalition working to pass a data center moratorium.
The protests also follow a recent announcement by Amazon to continue its expansion across central Virginia. That includes two major data center campuses under development in Louisa County.
Now local community leaders are outlining what they need from officials.
“Strict mandatory limits on noise pollution and diesel emissions with real enforcement and zero exemptions for facilities placed near residential neighborhoods,” said Monica Hutchinson, president of the Henrico County NAACP. “Rate payer protection. Tech conglomerates must pay for their own infrastructure rather than shifting grid costs onto working families,” she went on.
Hutchinson said data centers disproportionately affect minorities and working-class communities.
Hutchinson outlined four protections the Henrico NAACP is demanding: transparent community oversight with no non-disclosure agreements; environmental justice protections including mandatory limits on noise and diesel emissions; rate payer protections requiring tech companies to pay for their own infrastructure; and investment from companies to address past harm, including investment in education.
According to Pew Research, Virginia has the most data centers in the country, at around 400, and about 300 more are on the way.
“It’s not something that we want in the community, for the environment, or even... for me being a single mom, affecting my electric bills, so it affects us in all ways and forms,” said Shabine Shahnewaz, a protester at the March for a Moratorium.
Other speakers at the rally included Dr. Katie Hoffman, an Appalachian studies scholar and co-organizer of Protect Cumberland Virginia, and Steve Herring, an agronomist. Hoffman and Herring spoke about opposition to a proposed Dominion gas plant in Cumberland County, which they said would be the second-largest gas plant in the country if built.
Organizers are waiting to hear from the governor’s office and other elected officials.
“Development without justice is merely displacement. Growth without accountability is exploitation,” Hutchinson said.
“Let Virginia lead, not in the race to build the fastest, but in the courage to protect its people first,” Hutchinson said.
Nicole Riley, Director of Virginia Government Affairs with the Data Center Coalition, a group that represents the interests of the data center industry, sent a statement in response to the protests.
“Data centers remain committed to being responsible and responsive partners in Virginia, where the industry supports tens of thousands of jobs and generates billions of dollars in economic activity and tax revenue each year.”
“We will continue to engage in constructive dialogue with Virginians because getting this right ultimately benefits everyone — including the localities that host data centers, the men and women who make a living building and operating them, and the millions of individuals, businesses, and organizations that depend on this digital infrastructure every day.”
12 On Your Side also reached out to Gov. Abigail Spanberger’s office for a comment. We have not heard back yet.