I go on a drive, ready to complete my errands for the day. As I leave my neighborhood, the first site that greets my eyes is a large, gray, cement building, spanning the once green-covered land. 

Every road I drive on, every street I pass by, and everywhere I go, I see a monstrosity of buildings, lurking in every possible corner. 

These monotonous blocks of drab, colorless buildings have invaded the beautiful landscape, making my drive overwhelmingly dreary as the only things in my periphery are establishments of hopeless insipidity. 

10 years ago, my neighborhood was surrounded by plentiful greenery and nature, and my parents could enjoy the peaceful drives and pleasant views. Now, all of it is gone, taken over by data centers that are sucking the life out of Loudoun County. 

Loudoun County is home to over 200 data centers, more than 43 million square feet of land being used. In over 14 years, there has not been a single day of no data center construction. In fact, Loudoun County is known as the data center alley, holding the world’s largest concentration of data centers. 

While the most prized possessions of Loudoun County make it a key part of the world’s technology economy, the implementation is frustrating. “I know they’re important, but I feel like they take up so much space, and honestly they’re just everywhere,” junior Riya Cherukuri, a lifelong resident of Loudoun County said. “Sometimes it’s a little annoying when you’re driving, and all you see are data centers.” 

The seemingly endless amount of data centers is an eyesore for other residents too, who feel exhausted from seeing the same facilities all the time. “ [Data centers] are definitely something that’s abundant,” junior Shaun Sahayadarlin said. “I see them every day, whether it’s just going to get food or going to hang out. There’s always a data center I pass by. Obviously, they bring the county a lot of money, so that part is pretty good. But, it does get a little boring just seeing data centers everywhere. It’s almost like that’s the only building that exists here.” 

Unfortunately, this frustration is only set to increase, with the growth of data centers in Loudoun County continuously expanding. The building of data centers in Loudoun County for the past 20 years has been the highest compared to any other place in the world, growing at a rate of 231 percent within just the last five years. Data centers are being constantly packed into even less space, taking over Loudoun County. 

As the technology industry is expanding with more infrastructure, the beauty of Loudoun County is fading. “I feel like we have a lot of beautiful greenery and tons of nature, and the data centers kind of overshadow it, and it’s just all you see,” Cherukuri said.

The loss of natural beauty in Loudoun County is an issue felt by many residents of Loudoun County, especially those who live right by the data centers and have to see them every day.  “When you go to Western Loudoun County, Leesburg, or Purcellville, the scenery is very pretty [with] lots of great country areas,” Sahayadarlin said. “It looks amazing out there. Then you come to Ashburn, and, nature-wise, it’s not really accomplishing a lot. There’s no chance they made any attempt to fit [the data centers] in with the landscape.”

To make matters worse, the overtake of data centers is starting to make Loudoun County lose its charm and sense of community. The Washington Commanders practice facility in Ashburn, which has been here since the 1990s, is being bought out by a data center complex for future development of the land. The unique facility has been a special part of Loudoun County for so long, and now it’s being replaced by something so lackluster. “That’s crazy to think about,” Sahayadarlin said. “That’s a national-level football team getting their training center bought out by a data center.”

More than just the design, data centers bring further complications to Loudoun County. According to a commission draft review on data centers in Virginia, they consume 4140 megawatts of power, leaving Northern Virginia unable to meet its local energy demands by taking up most of the needed energy. Even more alarming, power demand is set to increase by 183 percent by 2040. That means to even supply half of the needed power, Virginia would have to rely on another state to generate it. To supply full power, solar energy facilities would need to be developed at twice the pace it is currently, and a natural gas plant would have to be implemented every year. 

Overall, the amount of data centers being built is unsustainable, as it puts the electric grid that people rely on at risk. The high energy demands directly affect residents of Loudoun County. The commission report found that the increased growth of data centers could increase power generation costs by 18 billion dollars by 2040. This would result in a 41 percent increase in monthly power bills for each resident.

Not only this, but the growing data centers are consuming the county’s water capacity needs. In Loudoun County, data centers’ potable water consumption has increased by 250 percent in the last four years. During the time that water usage was the highest, there was a high risk of drought in Virginia. To some residents of the county, water is a limited resource, and data centers are taking it away.  

The data centers’ overconsumption of critical resources such as water and energy directly impacts households of Loudoun County students. They are now faced with the burdening consequences of escalating costs all due to the unsustainability of data centers. These consequences can’t be ignored; data center growth is getting out of control, and restrictions must be placed to ensure the well-being of Loudoun County residents.

Since 2010, there has been an exemption to the state’s retail sales and use tax which allowed large-scale data centers to rapidly grow. This is scheduled to expire in 2035, raising a debate on whether the exemption should be extended, taken out, or altered. Changing the exemption to better balance industry growth and energy consumption would be the ideal situation to still allow for economic growth while addressing key issues of energy consumption, water use, and residential impacts. 

However, some believe that the benefits of data centers should be emphasized as they have made Loudoun County rich and thriving. “Loudoun County houses over 70 percent of data not only for Loudoun County but also for other regions in the U.S, so it’s pretty important on a larger scale,” junior Sahasra Godlaveti said. “I think prioritizing the economy, jobs, and just overall research and development throughout the United States is a lot more important.”

While data centers do bring an economic benefit to the county, the impacts may not be as long-lasting as people believe. Most of the economic boost comes during the initial phase of data center construction when more jobs are created, but the benefits decline post-construction. According to WTOP news, many data centers only take about 50-100 employees when they’re actually operational, leading to a slowdown in economic growth post-construction. 

Although data centers may bring some prosperity to Loudoun County through generating revenue and tax benefits, there needs to be a balance in maintaining the economic benefits with the environmental and residential impacts. The well-being of residents should be a greater focus, and data centers are taking that away by leaving them with instability surrounding critical resources. Moreover, as more data centers take over the county, it leaves less room for the personality of Loudoun to shine through. The qualities of a county that people want to live in are slowly dissipating, as each data center built marks a decline in the natural beauty of the county.