Google Project Peanut (Chester) data center, Chester, Virginia

Project Peanut, Google's first data center campus in Chesterfield County, Virginia, is planned as three buildings totaling nearly 856,000 square feet on a 300-plus-acre site on Bermuda Hundred Road in Chester, next to Meadowville Technology Park. WWBT reported the site was already under construction in July 2026, when hundreds of people came to Google's open houses on its three Chesterfield campuses.

Google bought the land in 2020 for $18.1 million from the Chesterfield Economic Development Authority, and filed its site plan in November 2025, with AECOM as architect and Bohler as civil engineer; its megawatt capacity has not been disclosed. The project was revealed in August 2025 as part of a $9 billion Google investment in Virginia. All three Google projects have county agreements freezing the data center equipment tax at 24 cents per $100 of assessed value for 30 years.

Residents have faulted the Board of Supervisors for approving all three projects in a public vote while Google's involvement was concealed. Clover Hill Supervisor Jessica Schneider said nondisclosure agreements signed in 2018, when talks on Project Peanut began, were the reason.

"I want to have clarity from our local government," said University of Richmond professor Mary Finley-Brook, a Chesterfield resident who has filed Freedom of Information Act requests. "Who is responsible for paying for this infrastructure, and what commitment did they make to Google about the construction of the water infrastructure?"

At the July open house, Google gave no project-specific figures for water or power, and spokesman Clay Allsop said: "Once it's operational we disclose that." Google says it will pay for any infrastructure improvements the projects need.

Google's other two Chesterfield campuses are Project Skye, four buildings on 848 acres on Moseley Road, and Project Loch, three buildings on 334 acres on Watkins Centre Parkway. Project Skye is expected to affect more than 20 acres of wetlands and about 8,000 feet of streams, according to Google's consultant.

Schneider, who voted to approve Skye and Loch, said she does not plan to approve any more data centers in the county, and that the county's 24-cent tax rate on data center equipment is the lowest in the state, against a statewide average she put around $2.50 to $3.50. An online petition is circulating that demands more accountability from the Board of Supervisors, which approved all three projects.