CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (WVIR) – The rapid proliferation of data center campuses in Virginia is driving an effort to expand the energy infrastructure to power them.
Virginia is home to more data centers than any other place in the world, but the state simply does not have enough energy or transportation capacity to support their growth.
“People just don’t have any sense of how big this is in Northern Virginia or Virginia as a whole, but it’s in the order of a tripling of the system we have today,” said Christopher Miller, President of the Piedmont Environmental Council.
According to a December report by the Joint Legislative and Audit Review Commission, or JLARC, a small data center consumes as much energy as nearly 4,500 houses. Planned data center campuses are predicted to eat up over 1,000 megawatts of energy, which is more than the capacity of Virginia’s largest nuclear reactor.
One way to help meet the demand is by expanding pipelines, which carry natural gas from one point to another and are a critical part of modern energy infrastructure.
“The environmental community has worked very hard to try to reduce the demand for natural gas,” said Miller. “To see it being presented as an immediate priority for expansion is really a concern.”
The Transcontinental Pipeline, owned by Williams Company, carries gas from Southwest Virginia to Northeast and crosses right through central Virginia. Williams has now filed to expand the Transco pipeline under the Southeast Supply Enhancement Project.
“They’re pushing, pushing, pushing, and what they’re pushing for is a chance to accelerate an industry with infrastructure we’ve never even thought of building or thought through how we’re going to put it all together,” Miller said.
In its project plan, Williams says that “by maximizing the use of the existing transmission corridor, the impact on property owners and the environment will be minimized.”
But Miller says that these pipelines can damage stream quality and accelerate the use of methane gas. Even worse, he added, is what can happen if they are built too quickly.
“If you do them well, you can manage those impacts,” said Miller. “If you do them on a rush job, there are safety issues. There’s nothing worse than a pipeline exploding.”
When it comes to data centers and pipelines, Miller says we need to slow down and consider those who will be affected most.
“These are real places,” said Miller. “People live there. They have meaning for people.”
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