Rendering of Balico’s initial data center and gas plant complex proposed on 2,200 acres in Pittsylvania County, VA.

After hearing powerful public testimony on April 15, the Pittsylvania County Board of Supervisors voted 6-1 to deny Balico’s rezoning application to develop 750 acres of agricultural land for a hyperscale data center complex and an enormous gas power plant. The original proposal filed in October 2024 proposed 84 data centers on 2,200 acres and a 3,500 megawatt gas-fired power plant, which would be the largest gas-powered plant in Virginia.

The denial comes after months of tremendous community-led organizing from the Coalition for the Protection of Pittsylvania County against the project. Balico was granted their request to postpone hearings twice–once in February and again in March. The Board denied Balico’s third delay request, and county staff made special arrangements to secure a larger venue for the Board meeting.

Pittsylvania NAACP President Anita Royston speaks at the Balico hearing. Photo credit: Appalachian Voices.

Hundreds of local residents voiced concerns over public health, plunging land value, and cultural identity at the Board of Supervisors meeting. Some specific concerns included potential loss of farmland, unsightly buildings, air and water pollution, heavy construction traffic, constant noise from data center operations, and the guzzling of millions of gallons of water a day, needed to cool both the power plant and data center servers.

Southern Environmental Law Center released the Harvard Data Science Initiative and Dominici Lab report a few days before the hearing, which reported that the gas plant would emit fine particulate matter (PM2.5). Public health experts agree that no level of PM2.5 exposure is safe, and the report found that the proposed gas plant would emit at least 326.53 tons of PM2.5 per year.

Prolonged exposure to fine particulate matter from living near the gas plant is “expected to cause severe impacts, including…heart attack, pneumonia, cardiovascular issues, stroke, or cancer.”

The report states that over 17,500 people living in Pittsylvania County “would be exposed to extreme levels of PM2.5 associated with severe health impacts,” along with thousands more across Pittsylvania, Halifax, and Mecklenburg counties being exposed to moderate amounts of PM2.5. Again, no level of PM2.5 exposure is safe!

The report estimates that the gas plant would cost residents $31 million in healthcare costs annually and more than $625 million total by 2040 due to residents’ exposure to PM2.5.

“It is hard for me and my neighbors to accept being collateral damage necessary for someone to have a water line or to assume wealth, while we are left to survive the best we can in the industrial quagmire they created,” said Lewis Sink, local resident, in the Star Tribune.

Balico still holds purchase options for the 2,200 acres of agricultural land. However, they must wait a year after the Board of Supervisors’ denial before applying for rezoning again.

Before the rezoning request was denied, Balico stated that they’re considering residential subdivisions in a press release: “The company is now evaluating alternative development options for the property in addition to the previously proposed campus. While a residential development is not the ideal use we had envisioned for this property, it represents a viable alternative that could still deliver value to our stakeholders, particularly if the data center campus does not proceed.”

 The same county residents now face more pollution risk from two proposed fracked-gas pipeline projects, the MVP Southgate extension and Trancso’s Southeast Supply Enhancement Project. Both pipelines are currently undergoing permit review processes. Join Appalachian Voices for a “Pizza Not Pipelines” information session in Chatham on May 15 to learn more.