Jefferson Forum’s President Derrick Max puts out a Sunday morning summary that only some of you probably see, and I cannot really link to it for you. But today’s email had a useful and entertaining riff on the ongoing efforts to demonize Virginia’s data center industry, a clearly coordinated hit job from the left and its media allies. The following is useful to consider as the Democratic Trifecta in charge of Virginia continues to fight over how to (not whether, but how to) punish the data centers for their unforgiveable success in meeting market demands…

14.) Data Centers don’t damage schools. The Virginia Education Association, argues that the state’s aggressive tax incentives for data centers are draining vital resources from the K-12 education system by “costing” $212 per student because of the school’s loss of $267 million — their portion of the tax incentives granted to this industry. The authors fail to understand that data centers are one of the most significant positive revenue sources for Virginia localities. While the authors focused on the state sales tax exemption, they failed to understand that data centers contribute hundreds of millions to local budgets annually, which are the main funder of our schools. They also fail to understand that the revenue from data centers does not require expenditures for new schools and roads and other public services as data centers are a relatively low employment sector. The teacher’s union also failed to mention the investment the data centers make to improve local power grids, roads, and fiber-optic networks, providing public benefits that would otherwise have to be funded by traditional taxpayers. Give it to the left, when they hate an industry, they can count on the teachers to do their bidding – even with false data if necessary.

15.) Data Centers don’t damage air quality. The Virginia Department of Environmental Quality has launched a monitoring project to study the impact of the world’s largest concentration of data centers on local air quality. Prompted by resident concerns regarding emissions from diesel-powered backup generators and natural gas turbines, sensors in Loudoun County are now tracking levels of particulate matter, nitrogen oxide, and carbon monoxide. What the DEQ doesn’t tell you is that they have been required to monitor these particulates since 1982 under the Clean Air Act and Virginia now consistently meets the National Ambient Air Quality Standards set under the act (meaning we have great air). In fact, as Jefferson Forum has reported elsewhere, Virginia should now be allowed to get out of the mandatory vehicle emissions testing protocols because our air is so much improved! But, when the left wants to destroy an industry, they can count on the environmental minions at the DEQ to do their bidding. Shame. 

16.) Data Centers aren’t making us unhealthy or causing death. This article from the Loudoun Times-Mirror highlights a terribly researched study suggesting that emissions from data centers could lead to significant and costly public health issues – replete with warnings about low income and minority populations (a sure sign this was more of a political hit, than science). The study relied on the worst-case maximum power generation of a single data center not yet on the grid relying on natural gas and diesel for its power. The irony is that this study was funded by the green extreme Piedmont Environmental Council who supported the Virginia Clean Economy Act’s restrictions on power generation which is the reason Virginia doesn’t have the energy it needs to quickly get data centers onto the grid. Headlines that imply that this is an industry wide concern is just ludicrous. When the left hates an industry, they can count on the PEC and other green extremist groups to do their bidding. Shame.

17.) Data centers won’t make water wells run dry. A coordinated campaign of community meetings in Loudoun County is warning residents that their well water has declined by 10 percent – with a wink and nod to data centers as the cause. Unless you read the full report, you won’t see that there is no specific issue (overdevelopment, climate change, weather, data centers) named as the “cause” and that the authors admit the data is not very reliable because there are very few monitored wells used to create this report and the number of wells has skyrocketed. Furthermore, in some areas in Loudon, water levels are stable and even rising despite the recent decline in rainfall. As someone on a well, who received a panicked call from a Democrat neighbor inviting me to a meeting on data centers draining our wells, it is amazing to see how the left can gin up concern over an industry they hate with such limited and awful data. Shame.

18.) Data Centers don’t hurt Virginia’s budget. The Virginia House of Delegates is proposing a compromise to “save” the data center industry’s 5.6% sales tax exemption by forcing it to meet unnecessary strict new environmental and energy efficiency standards (ignoring the fact that Virginia meets strict air quality standards now). The Senate’s budget version seeks to eliminate the tax break entirely to “recoup” $1.6 billion in annual revenue, the House plan would require facilities to use carbon-free generators (who is telling the left you can run a generator on solar big enough to run a data center? Give me a break). The House plan also requires data centers purchase renewable energy certificates (REC) starting in 2027 (RECs are very expensive as our Steve Haner has written). Negotiations remain ongoing as lawmakers race to finalize the state’s $212 billion budget before the July 1 deadline to avoid a government shutdown. Governor Youngkin left Governor Spanberger a massive surplus – why are legislators pushing to break promises to the data centers to steal extra more money from Virginia taxpayers? Revoking economic development promises will limit the ability of Virginia to attract new businesses and could lead to a mass exodus of employers from Virginia. 

Repetition is the key to effective communication, as Derrick proved again…Oh, and I’ll add 19.) Data Centers Didn’t Raise Your Electric Bill. 

I love a little reductio ad absurdum in the morning. Smells like…victory.

— SDH