Planet over profits: Fredericksburg City Council must confront the environmental threats posed by data centers

by DEVIN SCHWERS

Staff Writer

On Aug. 27, the Fredericksburg City Council met to vote on a measure that would provide $200,000 for Dominion Energy to research developing a data center in Fredericksburg. Last minute, the vote was omitted from the meeting agenda and it was announced during the 5:30 p.m. work session that the Fredericksburg Economic Development Authority would provide the funding for the research itself. 

Data Centers are essentially massive filing cabinets that store, process and collect various types of digital information. Data centers are an essential piece of infrastructure and allow for the effective and fast exchange of online information that we have grown accustomed to. However, data centers require an enormous amount of energy, ranging anywhere from 10 to 50 times the amount of energy per floor space of a typical commercial office building, according to the United States Department of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. This energy is provided through the burning of fossil fuel which has a direct correlation with climate change.

The primary incentive for erecting the data center is the estimated $35-$40 million in tax revenue it would produce for the city, according to Councilman Will Mackintosh. The money from a data center in Fredericksburg City could be used to fund public projects that have long been neglected or underfunded like schools and parks. 

Despite the short-term substantial benefit to Fredericksburg from the tax revenue, the long-term disastrous effects on our climate that our city would directly contribute to cannot be overlooked. 

Eric Bonds, associate professor of sociology at the University of Mary Washington, wrote in the FXBG Advance, “This proposal comes at a time when we are witnessing unprecedented weather phenomena linked with climate change…” Bonds argued that given the size of data centers, one singular center may end up consuming more energy than every individual home in Fredericksburg combined. This energy would primarily come from fossil fuels, as the city does not have the current infrastructure in place to provide the data center the energy it needs on entirely clean energy sources. 

Donald Glander, a junior history and sociology double major, wrote an email to four of the seven Fredericksburg City Council members urging them to vote against the study of data center development in the city. 

“As a young person the threat of climate change looms heavy on my mind, and one of the things which first stuck out to me when I came to tour UMW, as well as the broader Fredericksburg area, was the city’s plan to completely transition to renewable energy by 2050 …[This] would not be possible if the city votes to attract and build data centers in our area,” Glander wrote in the email. 

There was never a formal explanation as to why the vote by the city council to approve the $200,000 for data center research was forgo and permitted the Economic Development Authority to spend the funds themselves. However, I have a hard time believing the city council members do not know how unpopular this decision would be, and would prefer not to take the backlash that would coincide with voting against the wishes of their constituents to provide the funding for this research.

The Fredericksburg City Council has to make a decision. If they choose to continue down the path they have set themselves on, and allow for a data center to be built in Fredericksburg for a quick buck, they will willingly be contributing to the ongoing climate crisis. However, if they decide to not allow a data center to be built, and they don’t allow Dominion’s monopolistic interests to dominate our city, they will undoubtedly be making a substantial difference in mitigating the effects of climate change in our community, and on our planet. 

If the goal of bringing a data center to the city of Fredericksburg truly is in goodwill, and it is seen as an avenue to provide the city with more funds to tackle our toughest issues like affordable housing, or the funding of public education, I can only hope they come to the conclusion that these issues can be resolved in a manner that does not require us to sacrifice the life of our planet. 

Corbin Poyer, a UMW Alumna and current resident of Fredericksburg, said “It’s a bad idea. They would destroy a large part of the remaining wilderness, and it would increase the imposing cost of water and electricity to homeowners. I will end up paying more for electricity and water that I am not even using. Students really need to start showing up to City Council meetings and making their voices heard because this is going to negatively impact their lives and the lives of anyone else living in the Fredericksburg area.”

Regardless of where you are from, if you are a member of the UMW community, you are a member of the greater Fredericksburg community, and you have a say in the day-to-day operations of our city. Write your city council members, sign up to speak at city council meetings on Tuesday nights and make your voice heard. The responsibility falls on us to fight for what we know to be right.