Supporters, opponents gather for public hearing on Prince William County data centers

WOODBRIDGE, Va. - Supporters and opponents of the Prince William Digital Gateway project gathered in Woodbridge on Tuesday for a public hearing as the controversial plan to build data centers in the region moves forward.

Applications to rezone farmland to accept the data centers, which house computer servers and hardware required to support modern internet use, were submitted earlier this week.

The morning hearing was preceded by a prayer vigil held by the United Tribes of Shennandoah and others opposed to data centers.

READ MORE: Prince William County leaders vote to approve controversial Devlin Technology Park data center project

GAINESVILLE, VA - OCTOBER 28: A sign advocating for the construction of the 2,100-acre complex of data centers at the proposed site of the Prince William Digital Gateway in Gainesville, Virginia on October 28, 2022. (Photo by Valerie Plesch for The W

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Opponents say the data centers are noisy, ugly, and consume massive amounts of electricity that require the addition of high-voltage transmission lines.

Supporters say the centers will bring jobs and resources to the area, in addition to boosting property values.

Local governments are often reluctant to turn them away because of the tax revenue they generate.

Northern Virginia is home to the world’s largest concentration of data centers. Tech companies like to place the centers in the area, in part because the region’s proximity to the nation’s traditional internet backbone allows the servers in those data centers to save nanoseconds that are crucial to support financial transactions, gaming technology and other time-sensitive applications.

The Associated Press contributed to this report