Coverage is partial: we are adding localities as we verify records. A missing locality does not mean it has no data center activity.

Home / Methodology

Methodology & sources

How we find projects, how we verify them, and how to read our labels.

Our rules

  • Every fact has a link. A record needs one source we actually opened that states the fact.
  • Official first. We prefer government records (Board of Supervisors and City Council records, DEQ, SCC, the Register of Regulations, General Assembly) over news, and news over company press releases.
  • New projects need two independent sources, or one official record. Anything less stays an internal lead and isn't published.
  • No inference. If size, investment, jobs or water use aren't stated by a source, we leave them blank. Claims are attributed inline, e.g. "(company figure)" or "(per KXXV)".
  • Conflicts are shown, not resolved by guesswork. When sources disagree (including on which locality a site is in), we list both.
  • Benefits and impacts need evidence. Jobs, tax revenue, water and power claims are shown only with a source, and attributed.
  • History is kept. When a status changes, we add a dated record and keep the earlier milestones.

Source labels

Official record

Government documents: Board of Supervisors and City Council agendas, minutes and ordinances, DEQ permits, SCC dockets, the Register of Regulations, General Assembly records, federal notices.

Company claim

What a developer, utility or tenant says in its own announcement. Useful, but not independently verified.

News report

Reporting by news outlets. We attribute figures to the outlet and prefer the underlying record when we can get it.

Third-party tracker

Other trackers and databases. Treated as leads, never as the only source for a fact.

Where we look

  • Boards of Supervisors, City Councils and Planning Commissions: agendas, minutes, staff reports and ordinances (rezonings, special use and conditional use permits, comprehensive plan amendments, zoning text amendments, performance agreements, pause resolutions). Virginia localities control data center siting mainly through zoning, so these are the main local decisions.
  • DEQ: the list of issued air permits for data centers (each row we publish is a dated record naming only what DEQ's list states) and DEQ guidance and rules for backup generators.
  • State Corporation Commission (SCC): rate classes, large-load and transmission dockets for Dominion Energy and other utilities.
  • Register of Regulations, Code of Virginia and General Assembly: final rules, executive orders and bills. A bill is listed only when we have opened its official text or status page.
  • Federal notices: for example U.S. Army Corps of Engineers public notices for wetlands permits.
  • Company announcements and news: used for context and attributed. Third-party trackers are leads only.

Locality coverage

Virginia has 133 localities (95 counties and 38 independent cities; source: U.S. Census Bureau 2020 FIPS codes). We have not yet audited where each locality publishes readable agendas and minutes, so the locality list shows "Not yet audited" for all of them. A locality with no page here may still have data center activity we have not reached.

Update cadence

Each page shows its last-verified date. A fixed re-check schedule will be published once the site launches.

Corrections

Email [email protected] with the page and a source link. Confirmed errors are fixed and noted on the page.