LoudounNow LOUDOUN COUNTY’S COMMUNITY-OWNED NEWS SOURCE
[ Vol. 4, No. 3 ]
[ loudounnow.com ]
[ December 6, 2018 ]
Discover Loudoun’s rural roads
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DistanceBased Pricing Deal Eyed for Greenway BY RENSS GREENE
oversees the utility’s work to provide that electricity. And he said the demand for energy for the data center industry in Virginia has surpassed a million watts. “Our actual load in Dominion’s service territory [in Virginia] is over a gigawatt of load,” Blackwell said. “… the majority of that is centered around Loudoun County.” And, he said, the industry is well on its way to two gigawatts, expected to pass that mark in the next five years. Dominion Media/Community Relations Manager Charles E. “Chuck” Penn Sr. said the utility estimates 1 megawatt of capacity is enough to power 250 homes. That means two gigawatts would be enough to power roughly a half-mil-
Loudoun legislators have negotiated a tentative deal with the owners of the Dulles Greenway to implement distance-based pricing on the state’s only private toll road. Delegate John J. Bell (D-87), said he, David Reid (D-32) and Loudoun County Chairwoman Phyllis J. Randall (D-At Large) have negotiated a new agreement with the Greenway that will allow commuters during off-peak hours, weekends, and holidays to pay toll of $1 per mile, capped at the offpeak toll, currently $4.65. The peak toll, currently $5.65, will remain the same. The Greenway charges a higher rush-hour tolls eastbound from 6:30 a.m. to 9 a.m. and westbound from 4 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. The agreement is still awaiting final approval by the Greenway’s owners, Toll Road Investors Partnership II or TRIP II. It will also require legislative approval in the General Assembly. According to a press release from Bell’s office, the Greenway will spend about $30 million upgrading its infrastructure to enable distance-based pricing. Full details of the agreement, including when the new tolls will take effect, are expected before the next session of the General Assembly begins Jan. 9. Bell said the agreement means nobody will pay more, and some drivers will have the option to pay less. That may be particularly true for drivers in eastern Loudoun heading into Fairfax, who currently have to pay the full toll to drive only a few miles on the Greenway, or avoid the Greenway and spend time sitting in traffic. “We’re providing an op-
GIGAWATTS >> 44
GREENWAY >> 45
Renss Greene/Loudoun Now
Power lines run next to a data center on Red Rum Drive in Ashburn. As Loudoun’s data center industry has grown, so too has its hunger for electricity.
A Gigawatt and Growing
Data Center Industry Pushing Toward Greener Energy BY RENSS GREENE
O
ne of Loudoun’s biggest industries is also one the world’s biggest energy users. The numbers around Loudoun’s data center sector—the biggest data center market in the country— are staggering and constantly growing. Loudoun is home to more than 70 data centers, and according to the county Department of Economic Development they cover 10.5 million square feet, with millions more on the way. About 70 percent of all the internet traffic in the world travels through Ashburn. They are a major leg in the county’s budget, putting little burden on county services but expected to bring in more
than $200 million in local tax revenues in the current fiscal year. To make that much from local real estate taxes, Loudoun County would have to raise its tax rate 25 cents per $100 of assessed value. The industry also has been a major driver of increasing real estate prices in Loudoun, with developers gobbling up vast tracts of land and in some cases paying more than a million dollars an acre for it. And they are famously one of the most electricity-hungry industries in the world. How much energy does Loudoun’s data center industry use? The largest electric utility in Virginia, Dominion Virginia Power, powers the state’s data center industry. Dominion Director for Customer Service and Strategic Partnerships Stan Blackwell
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