An earlier version of this story referred to the State Corporation Commission approving a substation, but the SCC approval only incorporates transmission lines.
As plans for the first phase of data centers have been submitted in Lincolnia just outside Alexandria city limits, residents are focusing opposition on an electric substation under review.
In July, Starwood Capital Group filed the permit application and building plans to Fairfax County for the 34-acre Plaza 500 site at 6299 Edsall Road in Lincolnia. The application is for Plaza 500 South, the first of two data center buildings it is seeking. According to the Washington Business Journal, the first phase calls for a 75-foot-tall data center over 226,469 square feet.
Data center development on the Plaza 500 site is by right based on permitted zoning. The site features a mix of warehouse, office and retail uses and was formerly home to a Social Security office and Smoot Lumber.
Tyler Ray, president of the Bren Pointe Homeowners Association, founded the Save Bren Mar Coalition with neighbors after learning in 2022 about potential for data center development.
“Because in 2022 the developer Starwood Capital wouldn’t agree to not build a data center there by kind of adding what’s called a proffer to the rezoning, they came back and submitted a site plan in 2024 to build a data center by right,” Ray told FFXnow. “Which means basically just as long as they follow the then current standards of the county, they could build this without needing any public hearing or without needing any approval by the Planning Commission or the Board of Supervisors.”
However, what’s under review is a Edsall Road substation Dominion Energy proposed to power the Plaza 500 data center project. According to Dominion Energy’s website, the substation and new transmission lines are needed to meet the data center load and would connect to the existing Van Dorn substation.
Transmission lines between the proposed Edsall Road substation and existing Van Dorn substation received approval from Virginia’s State Corporation Commission. But the substation still faces a public facilities 2232 review by the Fairfax County Planning Commission at 7 p.m. on Sept. 24.
The Mason District Land Use Committee will make a recommendation on Sept. 22 ahead of the Planning Commission’s hearing. The land use committee received a presentation by Dominion Energy on the substation on July 28.
Over 100 residents turned up to the July 28 meeting to hear about the substation and share their concerns. About 30 public speakers spoke about the impact a substation and data centers would have on the quality of life, health, environment and home values.
“My big takeaway was the community is active and aware and paying attention,” Ray said. “This is clearly not something that the community supports or thinks is consistent with the county comprehensive plan, like this type of thing does not belong next to this residential community.”
According to Ray, the substation would be 67 feet from the nearest residential use — the Ridges at Edsall townhouse community.
Rep. Don Beyer (D-8), who represents the area where the project would occur, has sent a letter to the Fairfax County Planning Commission requesting the 2232 site application be denied.
“I recognize the importance of maintaining the infrastructure necessary to support our region’s economy and technological leadership,” Beyer wrote to the Planning Commission. “However, as we continue to experience unprecedented growth in data center development, we must ensure that these projects are appropriately located outside of residential areas.”
The Save Bren Mar coalition has taken lessons from places like Loudoun and Prince William counties.
“We see the news reports of when it gets 100 plus degrees outside, and the emergency backup diesel generators have to run, and the fumes are flowing over people’s homes, and playgrounds, and parks, and schools, and transmission lines are being ran directly through people’s backyards,” Ray said. “We do not want that to be us, and we don’t want it to be them either.”
More awareness about data centers has caused the movement to grow. The Save Bren Mar coalition has drawn hundreds of residents and five homeowners and civic associations representing about 1,000 homes. Ray said the coalition has drawn participation from the City of Alexandria’s Watergate Condominiums residents who are concerned about the data center impact.
“They recognize the data center and the substations impacts aren’t just going to be limited to Fairfax County, and that the health impacts, the diesel generator fumes, and all of that, it’s just a matter of which way the wind blows for where those harms are going to be,” Ray said.
Given Alexandria’s own plans to develop a mixed-use district at the former Landmark Mall site, Ray says a data center nearby isn’t an appropriate use. He hopes if Fairfax County doesn’t approve the substation, the developer would reconsider the community’s desire for affordable housing and mixed-use development.
“Eight hundred feet on the other side of that data center, Alexandria is building brand new condos, townhouses, parks and apartments that otherwise this site could kind of be connected to and part of a broader thriving area,” Ray said.
Even if the Fairfax County Planning Commission rejects the substation on Sept. 24, Dominion Energy has the right to appeal to the Board of Supervisors.
The Board of Supervisors had approved restrictions on where and how data centers can be built in 2024 and new rules for electric substations in 2025. The county is in the process of selling county-owned land in Chantilly to Plaza 500 applicant Starwood Capital Group for data center development.
Image 2 via Google Maps
