Data centers in Culpeper County, Virginia: 6 projects mapped

In the Technology Zone, supervisors rezoned 121 acres on Nalles Mill Road in December 2023 for Cielo Digital Infrastructure's three buildings, two of 96 megawatts and one of 48; EdgeCore later bought the project, now under construction as EdgeCore Culpeper. In July 2024 they rezoned 69 acres on Nalles Mill and Keyser roads, 4-3, for Red Ace Capital Management's two four-story buildings; Supervisor Susan Gugino said it would be the last such project she'd approve because the zone was full. A 426-acre proposal still filed under the placeholder name XX Tech Park, developer unnamed, seeks 900 megawatts and has been pending since 2024.

Not every proposal has gone through. Two data center bids in Brandy Station, near Culpeper Battlefields State Park, drew resistance; after the planning commission recommended denial, the applicant withdrew. Town residents formed the Coalition to Save Culpeper, and member Andrew Dowdy told the Virginia Mercury that officials had largely ignored residents' concerns.

Power is now the central fight. Dominion Energy and its Valley Link partners have proposed a 115-mile high-voltage line ending at a substation on 88 acres of forest in Richardsville. At a May 19, 2026 meeting, most supervisors made clear the county did not want the substation, and a Dominion representative said, "We do not have an alternative." Dominion says it will file with the State Corporation Commission this fall regardless of the county's position. The county cites a study projecting $2.2 billion in data center tax revenue over 15 years, but unlike Loudoun and Prince William counties, it has no special tax on data center computer equipment.