The growth limiting factor in this region is water. Data centers use enormous amounts of water, which will impact the city profoundly in the coming years. If the city insists on doing a study, the impact on water availability for anything else should be scrutinized thoroughly.
Might we also ask why MWU maintains a fossil fuel generating plant right in the middle of the city to provide its electricity? It burns natural gas I am told, but keeps diesel oil on hand if needed. We all need to change if we are to do our duty to save our climate.
Thank you Eric Bonds for 'shining the light' on what is going on with Data Centers in 22401. What is troubling is the lack of 'transparency' by Council in involving the stakeholders in the discussion. We first found out about 5 on Council (Councilors Jon Gerlach, Jannan Holmes/Will Mackintosh, Tim Duffy, & Mayor Kerry Devine) and their 'field trip' to Prince William on Feb 9, 2024 to look at data centers in 2 x 2s (pairs of Council, which is allowed) to avoid calling it a meeting of Council. 2x2s are set up to avoid public notice or public participation. Then there was the July 9, 2024 Council meeting in which 'Potential Data CenterS' was added to the agenda at the meeting last minute. Why didn't Council give the public notice of this agenda item to residents by listing it ahead of the meeting? We could have shown up or submitted public comment on 'data centers'. As the 4-22-2024 'Inform Fredericksburg (Facebook) acknowledges: 'Data Centers have become a necessity in our high-tech society. But with the benefits come concerns such as demands on the electric grid, noise, needed tax breaks, and infrastructure impacts'. But right from the start, we in Fredericksburg get the impression that this is 'covert operations'. We wonder if they've already gone ahead and signed a NonDisclosure Agreement/NDA with the data center big shots. Go to the City of Fredericksburg website and see that both the 7-9-2024 agenda for the 'work session' and for 'council' do NOT mention 'Data Centers'. Then go to Regional Web TV, (https://www.regionalwebtv.com/fredcc) Council meeting July 9, 2024 at 22:22 with Mayor Devine adding Item 8c 'Potential Data CenterS) to the agenda, and then move to 31:54 for Council's ''Discussion of Data Centers'. Data Center Town Halls have been held by the Sierra Club, Friends of the Rappahannock, and Inform Fredericksburg. Not one Community Meeting though held by local government. Stakeholders need to stay informed on this issue. Be sure to sign up for Prince William's, enviromental activist, Bill Wright, free email list on data centers to learn both sides of the issue. His email is wawright4@comcast.net. Sierra Club and Piedmont Environmental Council are also good sources for data center info.
The growth limiting factor in this region is water. Data centers use enormous amounts of water, which will impact the city profoundly in the coming years. If the city insists on doing a study, the impact on water availability for anything else should be scrutinized thoroughly.
Might we also ask why MWU maintains a fossil fuel generating plant right in the middle of the city to provide its electricity? It burns natural gas I am told, but keeps diesel oil on hand if needed. We all need to change if we are to do our duty to save our climate.
Thank you Eric Bonds for 'shining the light' on what is going on with Data Centers in 22401. What is troubling is the lack of 'transparency' by Council in involving the stakeholders in the discussion. We first found out about 5 on Council (Councilors Jon Gerlach, Jannan Holmes/Will Mackintosh, Tim Duffy, & Mayor Kerry Devine) and their 'field trip' to Prince William on Feb 9, 2024 to look at data centers in 2 x 2s (pairs of Council, which is allowed) to avoid calling it a meeting of Council. 2x2s are set up to avoid public notice or public participation. Then there was the July 9, 2024 Council meeting in which 'Potential Data CenterS' was added to the agenda at the meeting last minute. Why didn't Council give the public notice of this agenda item to residents by listing it ahead of the meeting? We could have shown up or submitted public comment on 'data centers'. As the 4-22-2024 'Inform Fredericksburg (Facebook) acknowledges: 'Data Centers have become a necessity in our high-tech society. But with the benefits come concerns such as demands on the electric grid, noise, needed tax breaks, and infrastructure impacts'. But right from the start, we in Fredericksburg get the impression that this is 'covert operations'. We wonder if they've already gone ahead and signed a NonDisclosure Agreement/NDA with the data center big shots. Go to the City of Fredericksburg website and see that both the 7-9-2024 agenda for the 'work session' and for 'council' do NOT mention 'Data Centers'. Then go to Regional Web TV, (https://www.regionalwebtv.com/fredcc) Council meeting July 9, 2024 at 22:22 with Mayor Devine adding Item 8c 'Potential Data CenterS) to the agenda, and then move to 31:54 for Council's ''Discussion of Data Centers'. Data Center Town Halls have been held by the Sierra Club, Friends of the Rappahannock, and Inform Fredericksburg. Not one Community Meeting though held by local government. Stakeholders need to stay informed on this issue. Be sure to sign up for Prince William's, enviromental activist, Bill Wright, free email list on data centers to learn both sides of the issue. His email is wawright4@comcast.net. Sierra Club and Piedmont Environmental Council are also good sources for data center info.