June 25, 2026 Editor, The News-Gazette: Much of Virginia’s discussion about data centers has centered on tax incentives, electric demand, transmission lines, and where the next facility should be built. Those are important issues, but they overlook a larger question.
Northern Virginia already contains the world’s largest concentration of data centers. As these facilities mature, the commonwealth will increasingly face decisions not about attracting new investment, but about reinvestment in an enormous existing inventory of land, buildings, fiber networks, substations, and supporting infrastructure.
What will drive those reinvestment decisions? Will companies modernize existing campuses, expand them, repurpose them, or build elsewhere? How might advances in computing and energy efficiency affect future demands for electricity, transmission, and land use? Could reinvestment in existing facilities reduce the need for some new infrastructure while increasing computing capacity?
These are not arguments for or against data centers. They are questions about prudent planning.
Before Virginia commits billions more in public and private infrastructure to future growth, shouldn’t we better understand the long-term reinvestment strategy for the world’s largest concentration of data centers already in operation? BILL RUSSELL Kerrs Creek
