Prince William County Rejects Massive Dulles South Data Center Project

The Prince William County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously (8‑0) to reject a comprehensive‑plan amendment that would have re‑zoned nearly 2,000 acres of agricultural land for the Dulles South Innovation Center, also known as Dulles Cloud South. The proposal called for a 43 million‑square‑foot data‑center campus that could have attracted up to $30 billion in private investment.

County planning staff recommended denying the amendment, citing concerns about energy consumption, diesel generators, groundwater impacts, noise, traffic, and protection of the Occoquan and Potomac watersheds. The board’s decision also halts a related comprehensive‑plan amendment (CPA2026‑00012) and follows the earlier withdrawal of the Digital Gateway data‑center project in the same region. While the county wants to maintain a strong relationship with the data‑center industry, officials emphasized the need to avoid piecemeal development and to align future projects with the county’s master plan.