Residents of Rocky Mount, Virginia, are raising alarms about a proposed 900-megawatt data center that could be built a quarter-mile from their homes. Homeowners in the Summit View Business Park area fear the facility will significantly reduce property values, disrupt the quiet atmosphere of their neighborhoods, and negatively impact their quality of life.
Terry Smith, a resident of Little Mountain Drive, stated that her cul-de-sac neighborhood has been a peaceful environment for the five years she and her sister have lived there. The potential construction of the data center, connected to Crusoe AI, has created significant anxiety among homeowners, with Smith estimating that between 500 and 700 homes could be affected within a mile of the proposed site.
"I just feel the Board of Supervisors is not considering the lifelong impact on the environment," Smith told the Daily Mail. "And I don't feel like they're considering the people who are affected immediately, like myself and the cul-de-sac."
Smith expressed her feeling of being "trapped," unable to sell her home without disclosing the potential data center's proximity, which she believes would make it unsellable at a reasonable price. She noted that many residents attended a recent Board of Supervisors meeting to voice their objections.
A representative from a local church also spoke at the meeting, highlighting concerns about noise pollution's impact on religious services and, particularly, funerals.
Nationally, Virginia leads the country with 641 data centers, followed by Texas and California. This surge has prompted legislative action in several states.
Virginia Governor Abigail Spanberger's office stated that under her leadership, the state has implemented measures to address concerns related to data centers. These include a statewide energy consumption tax on data centers, stricter requirements for backup generators, and providing local leaders with more tools to assess potential impacts. This approach marks a shift from the previous administration, under which former Governor Glenn Youngkin aimed to establish Virginia as a data center capital.
Elsewhere, New York Governor Kathy Hochul initiated a one-year moratorium on new data centers exceeding 50 megawatts. In California, Monterey Park residents voted to prohibit new data center construction within the city, becoming the second U.S. city to enact such legislation after Port Washington, Wisconsin.
Wannie Park, founder of PADO AI, a company that assists data centers with energy management, advised that companies in the artificial intelligence sector must consider the human impact of their facilities. He emphasized the importance of early community engagement, transparency, and demonstrating local benefits to mitigate public pushback and regulatory hurdles.
"Developers can’t simply run away from populated areas – they have to learn to be better neighbors where the power and fiber already exist," Park said.