How to track Virginia data centers through primary sources

A statewide investment program, a campus and an individual building are different records. The AWS Virginia expansion announcement and Google’s Virginia investment program describe broad commitments; their amounts should not be assigned to every associated campus. VirginiAI keeps program records separate from campus records. [Amazon Web Services; Google]

Our analysis: create a record for the actual question you need to answer. Keep the operator’s name, source date, locality, record type and unresolved stage together. The selected Virginia register is a starting point for inquiry, not a census of all facilities or proof that a listed site is operating.

Owner pages help establish what is marketed or announced. QTS’s Richmond specification and Vantage’s Ashburn III specification describe campus scope and critical capacity. Those descriptions do not, on their own, establish which phases are complete or how much utility service has been delivered. [QTS Data Centers; Vantage Data Centers]

Our analysis: preserve the original wording and capacity basis. Record future delivery targets as targets. When a page retains an expired target but does not confirm completion, leave the stage unresolved rather than advancing it because time has passed.

Loudoun County publishes its data-center land-use guidance; Virginia DEQ maintains a separate issued-air-permit trail. An operator’s postal address is not a substitute for a parcel’s jurisdiction, and an air permit is not evidence that every local approval is complete. The controlling record depends on the actual property and approval being investigated. [Loudoun County; Virginia Department of Environmental Quality]

Our analysis: record the parcel, application or permit identifier, decision date, conditions and issuing body. Separate a pending application from an approval, an approval from construction, and construction from operation. Apply another county’s or independent city’s own process rather than assuming Loudoun’s rules are statewide.

Dominion’s intake guidance identifies a site plan, load letter and ramp schedule, followed by project-specific infrastructure planning. The SCC’s public explanation addresses large-load rates and safeguards. A marketed IT-load figure, a utility request and an energized service commitment are separate facts. [Dominion Energy; Virginia State Corporation Commission]

Our analysis: ask for the applicable service plan, required infrastructure, dependencies, timing and customer obligations. Confirm the controlling tariff or order for the actual customer; a general policy summary should not be used as a rate quote or guarantee of available capacity.

VEDP’s equipment-exemption guidance describes qualification, agreement and performance requirements. Its existence does not establish that a particular buyer, tenant, purchase or campus qualifies. Announced capital, equipment purchases, local tax receipts and employment are different economic measures. [Virginia Economic Development Partnership]

Our analysis: attach each financial assumption to its actual agreement, scope and date. Use the source register, comparison view and downloadable data to retain the evidence trail. Where the underlying record is absent, report the item as unverified or undisclosed rather than substituting a statewide average.