Protect Frederick County
from Unchecked Data Centers

We, the undersigned residents and landowners of Frederick County, Virginia, respectfully petition the Board of Supervisors to protect our community from the unchecked expansion of large-scale data centers.

Frederick County is served by Rappahannock Electric Cooperative (REC), a member-owned utility we are all part of. Every major county in Virginia that has approved large data centers now faces skyrocketing water consumption, rising electric bills, and industrial blight on agricultural land. The facts are documented:

REC's own regulatory filings project 17 gigawatts of data center demand by 2040, up from near zero in 2023, exceeding the co-op's entire current peak load of 948 MW. REC is legally obligated to serve any data center that arrives in its territory, meaning we bear the cost unless our local government acts first. Loudoun County data centers increased drinking water use by 250% in four years, revealed only through a public records request. Governor Youngkin vetoed HB 1601, which would have required water impact assessments before approval.

Frederick County sits in a drought-prone valley. Our wells, our farms, and our families cannot absorb the consequences that Loudoun, Prince William, and other counties are now living with.

• Reject all data center rezoning and special use permits until Virginia law requires comprehensive water and environmental impact assessments
• Protect agricultural and rural land from industrial data center development incompatible with Frederick County's character
• Demand full transparency on water consumption, electricity demand, and infrastructure costs before any application is considered
• Follow Warren County's lead. Your neighbors voted 5–0 in January 2023 to block data centers, calling them "monstrosities" and citing water supply risks. Make the same choice for Frederick County.

We recognize that state-level protections are inadequate. In the absence of those protections, we call on our local Board of Supervisors to exercise every available authority to protect the residents of Frederick County. Our valley's water, land, and quality of life are not for sale.