City EDA to Fund Data Center Feasibility Study
City EDA to Fund Data Center Feasibility Study
EDA will use its own funding, rather than acting as a pass-through for City of Fredericksburg funds.
By Adele Uphaus
MANAGING EDITOR AND CORRESPONDENT
Email Adele
The Fredericksburg Economic Development Authority will fund Dominion Energy’s feasibility study on select parcels of city land in Celebrate Virginia South.
The study will determine whether Dominion’s infrastructure will support development and operation of a data center on the parcels.
“My opinion is this is in our purview,” said Beth Black, EDA chair, at a special called meeting on Wednesday morning.
The EDA last month voted to accept $200,000 from the City of Fredericksburg to fund the study. It was the recommendation of the City Attorney that the EDA, rather than the city, initiate the feasibility study, City Manager Tim Baroody said at the EDA’s August 12 meeting.
But at Wednesday’s special meeting, Black suggested that the EDA could use its own money, which is separate from the city’s, to pay for the study. She suggested that the EDA move $61,600 from its Invest FXBG loan program and $30,000 from its grant program, and cash one $50,000 certificate of deposit, to fund the study.
Kevin Hughes, EDA member and treasurer, said this type of study is not specific to data centers.
He explained that the study will determine how much power a data center on the proposed parcels will require, how often it will be required, and whether existing infrastructure and transmissions lines can provide it.
Black said the EDA paid for a similar study when the city made a pitch for the VA hospital in 2019.
She said it aligns with the EDA’s mission to act as a catalyst for economic growth in the city.
Baroody told the Advance in an email last month that “normally, a developer/landowner would pursue this feasibility work.”
“City Council has directed staff to study the potential for data center development in the Celebrate Virginia South area,” he continued. “We are simply executing on that direction as a jurisdiction.”
The EDA on Wednesday unanimously approved the motion to fund the feasibility study.
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