Amazon withdraws request to build third Louisa County data center

LOUISA COUNTY, Va. (WVIR) - Amazon Web Services has withdrawn its request to build a third data center campus in Louisa County, citing feedback they have received from the community.

A lawyer representing Amazon sent a letter to County staff this week, stating they have “heard the community” and are reevaluating the project.

The letter added Amazon “appreciate[s] the desire for more robust input in any future projects that may be brought forward in the county, and we are confident that this is a goal that can be accomplished.”

The proposal would have created a third Amazon data center campus built in Louisa’s Mineral District, with 7.2 million square feet of buildings and 1,370 acres of land surrounding Northeast Creek Reservoir.

It also would have marked the County’s fourth data center campus overall. In June, the Board of Supervisors announced the sale of Shannon Hill Regional Business Park off I-64 to EdgeCore Digital Infrastructure, a data center developer and operator.

But the proposal prompted significant outcry from Louisa residents, reflecting a broader trend of growing tension over data center construction in Virginia, which is home to more of these giant warehouses than any other place in the world.

At a town hall meeting in late June, members of the Louisa community voiced concerns about noise, traffic, water use, and energy bills. Duane Adams, Chairman of the Louisa County Board of Supervisors, concluded that meeting by saying he would vote “no” on the proposal.

“I’m glad to see that the issues that our citizens and myself had raised about this potential site, the people that had that application in place were listening, they understood that this wasn’t acceptable,” Adams said.

29News asked Adams if he would be in favor of any future Amazon applications for a third data center.

“I can’t talk about what I haven’t seen, but there would have to be so many major changes in size, location... that it would be something completely different than what we’re talking about right now,” Adams said, “because what we’re talking about right now, I can’t support and won’t support.”

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