Expansion of Powhatan data center along Page Road denied by planning commission

POWHATAN COUNTY, Va. (WRIC) -- The expansion of a Powhatan County data center -- which would be a five-year building project across nearly 120 acres off Page Road -- was unanimously denied by the county's planning commission earlier in October.

During a planning commission meeting on Monday, Oct. 7, the county voted 5-0 to recommend denying a proposal to expand the data center along Page Road, which would be utilized as a server hub for data processing and storage for streaming services and web hosting.

It would be located northeast of the Page Road and Anderson Highway intersection.

This comes a few months after Powhatan County officials previously confirmed they’ve found a user for a $2.7 billion data center.

While the Planning Commission may have unanimously voted to deny said expansion of about 61 acres that would be added to a 120-acre planned data center from California-based Province Group, the board of supervisors is set to make a final decision on Monday, Oct. 27.

Per the county staff reports, the nearly 200 acres would lead to four detached data center buildings along the Chesterfield County line, with the southern part of the property crossing said line.

With more than a week until the board of supervisors makes a final decision regarding the planning data center campus, many Planning Commission members against the center shared their concerns over the 60-acre addition.

Despite data centers giving the county the opportunity to relieve some of the real estate tax burden, planning commission member Kenneth Hatcher emphasized that the cost of electricity will increase. He further said that the traffic due to the development center fails to meet some required road improvement levels.

Bobby Hall, Vice Chair of the Planning Commission, expressed concern over the $19 million that the county should set aside to improve the Dutoy Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant before any money is received from the data center.

The center, which could bring up to 200 jobs and $17 million in taxes to the county by 2024 and is described as "the biggest projects coming to Powhatan," was supported by Ligon Webb, the county's Director of Planning.

Webb said he felt comfortable recommending approval, considering the developer will likely give funds to support the improvement.

County documents estimate a recurring tax revenue from the data center at full build-out at about $9.7 million annually. State support for K-12 education could decrease, and the annual loss in state aid could range from about $1.5 million as the county scenario to $2.5 million as the developer scenario at full build-out, per documents.

The data center was initially approved in a 3-2 vote by the Board of Supervisors in October 2024.