150≈
sites
340≈
buildings
About 80% of the industry was concentrated in Loudoun, Prince William, and Fairfax. This is a historical baseline, not a 2026 live count.
JLARC, pp. 5–6The Virginia fact sheet
Numbers with
the context attached.
A dated guide to data center scale, electricity, water, and economic impacts. Read each measure within its own geography and time period.
Evidence reviewed September 9, 2026
01 / Scale
Start with
what is being counted.
A campus, a building, and a megawatt are different measures. Construction and operating status also matter.
Loudoun buildings
built or in construction
County-only inventory. Completion stages are combined, so this number cannot establish how many are currently operating.
Loudoun County · Data centers by the numbers02 / Electricity
The energy trend
is already visible.
Energy is the amount used over time. Peak demand is the highest draw the grid must accommodate at a particular time.
Growth in annual electricity sales
EIA attributes much of this growth to data centers, alongside electrification. It is not a direct measurement of data center consumption alone.
2025 preliminary; 2019–2024 final in this analysis.
EIA · Virginia electricity growthTwo recent seasonal peaks
Whole-zone load across customer types. These are different seasons, not a data-center-only trend.
EIA · May 202603 / Water
The statewide total
is only the beginning.
A responsible local discussion also asks where water comes from, how cooling works, and what happens on the hottest or driest days.
Research identifies cooling design, climate, hardware, utilization, and the water used by electricity generation as key variables. There is no universal water-per-workload figure.
Berkeley Lab · Water use of data center workloadsIndustry water use; just over one-third reclaimed.
JLARC had data for the large majority of facilities, not every building. Annual totals do not describe peak-day demand.
JLARC, pp. 62–6304 / Economic impact
Count the benefits.
Define the jobs.
Tax revenue, construction employment, and ongoing operations describe different benefits. A useful discussion keeps them distinct.
Estimated jobs supported by phase
These estimates include direct, indirect, and induced jobs. The combined 74,000 is not a count of permanent on-site employees.
JLARC / Weldon Cooper Center, pp. 14–15County-reported data center real and personal property tax revenue.
Projected data center revenue in the adopted county budget.
One county’s experience; these are revenue figures, not statewide net-benefit estimates. Loudoun County · Data centers by the numbers
05 / Reading the outlook
A forecast is
a range of possibilities.
Demand depends on future equipment, utilization, efficiency, and projects actually entering service. A scenario is not a completed facility or a guaranteed outcome.
Berkeley Lab’s national outlook
2025 Update, published June 2026
521Low scenario
649Reference case
843High scenario
0450900 TWh/year
The range combines modeled uncertainties. These are U.S. totals, not Virginia figures or guaranteed growth.
Berkeley Lab · U.S. energy report, 2025 update