Amazon reportedly inked a $700 million, hotly contested Virginia land acquisition for a future artificial intelligence (AI) data center, according to two sources familiar with the deal that spoke with the Washington Business Journal.
Though some locals raged against the prospect of a data center in Devlin Tech Park for years, Stanley Martin Homes LLC reportedly sold the land to Amazon Data Services on Oct. 31, according to the Washington Business Journal. After a judge ruled that the land bordering neighborhoods and schools could be used for data center proliferation, locals raised concerns over how another energy-hungry data center may spike their utility bills, according to multiple local reports.
Amazon and Stanley Martin Homes LLC did not respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s requests for comment.
“There’s been pushback since day one. People are not happy about this whatsoever. This is like the last straw,” local Catherine O’Connor told ABC 7News on Wednesday. “[I’m worried about] the traffic and the semi-tractor trailers that will be providing the services to these facilities and the impact that it’s going to do to the water system as well as the power grid.”
Devlin Tech Park is in Prince William County, a Northern Virginia area swamped with data centers.
Affordability and energy cost dialogue dominated Virginia and New Jersey’s gubernatorial elections and are set to stay a hot-button issue headed into the midterms. Energy demand is rising after a decade of stagnation due to data centers, onshore manufacturing and electrification, according to data from Energy Information Administration and the Institute for Energy Research.
Big tech companies and data center proponents argue they will bring more jobs and potentially even lower energy costs, while critics are concerned the energy-hungry structures will skyrocket utility bills and further strain America’s already insecure power grid.
The Trump administration unveiled an AI plan on July 23 which included the rapid build-out of data centers and noted the need to beat China in the AI race. Several energy policy experts, grid watchdogs and the Department of Energy (DOE) warned that soaring data center demand requires more reliable power.
“These profitable giants can afford it and should pay their own way,” President of Truth in Energy & Climate Frank Lasee told the DCNF previously. “Let’s win the AI race with China — without hiking bills for everyday electricity customers.”
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