Google Botetourt County Data Center Campus, Daleville, Virginia

Google's data center campus at the Botetourt Center at Greenfield near Daleville, Virginia, has been approved for grading: the company received a land disturbance permit from Botetourt County, and phased grading on the 312-acre site was set to begin in late summer 2026. The Google data center campus in Botetourt County is planned as three buildings of about 300,000 square feet each, with three electric substations and a 28,000 square foot office building.

The county sold Google the land for $14 million in June 2025, and the developer, signing as Helio Capital LLC, agreed to invest at least $1 billion in each data center it builds, to pay local real estate taxes at once and to give $4 million to community projects over five years. Each data center is to employ at least 50 full-time workers at a median salary of $86,000. Google confirmed the plan in March 2026; its data center public affairs head, Amber Tillman, said each building takes 18 to 24 months to build and the campus will come in phases. The business park's zoning was changed to allow data centers in November 2024, and the project takes most of the park's remaining land.

Power and water are the local questions. In a September 4, 2026 filing with the State Corporation Commission, Appalachian Power put Google's peak demand at about 300 megawatts, a figure not previously made public, and estimated $264 million in transmission and substation upgrades to serve it. The utility says the new load will bring in enough revenue that its other customers are not expected to pay more, and Google has cited the White House's Ratepayer Protection Pledge in promising to pay for the upgrades. Early estimates in an agreement between the county and the Western Virginia Water Authority put water use at two million gallons a day at first, rising to eight million, though Board of Supervisors Chairman Mac Scothorn said the chances of Google using two million gallons a day are "pretty low" and that the estimate reflects the hottest, most extreme weather. Google has said the 79 megawatts it buys from the Rocky Forge wind farm in the county will not cover the campus's needs.

The Southwest Virginia Data Center Transparency Alliance has opposed the project's financial, health and environmental effects; its spokesperson, Hunter Hartley, raised water use, electricity costs, land disturbance, the buildings' looks and "ethical questions about what we do with our time and resources." Power company and water officials had signed nondisclosure agreements with the project before it was announced, the water authority's director as early as March 2024. Roanoke and Roanoke County have each asked for 15% of the tax revenue, and Scothorn said no revenue-sharing deal has been made.

Under the county's permit, construction noise is barred from 9 p.m. to 7 a.m., blasting is regulated by the State Fire Marshal's Office, and Google has committed to on-site sound monitoring during construction and operation. Elsewhere in Appalachian Power's territory, Stack Infrastructure's Berry Hill project in Pittsylvania County has a commitment of at least 299 megawatts, and a developer in eastern Wythe County says its campus needs at least 1,000 megawatts.

What remains is the State Corporation Commission's review of Appalachian Power's grid upgrades, state and federal environmental permits overseen by the Department of Environmental Quality, and further county plan approvals.