Vantage VA2 (Ashburn II) data center, Sterling, Virginia

Vantage's VA2 data center on Glenn Drive in Sterling, in Loudoun County, Virginia, is the only Vantage campus in the state that runs full time on its own gas turbines rather than the grid. Eight turbines in one building power it around the clock, and at an August 24, 2026 town hall, Vantage told residents the campus is not expected to get grid power until 2040.

Vantage bought 17 acres on Glenn Drive for $46 million in October 2021, and filings by Loudoun County Economic Development put the finished campus at up to 96 megawatts across 800,000 square feet. "There was this constant, just like a buzzing in your head ... And this is just not pleasant to listen to every day, all day," said Lindsay Shaw, who welcomed the project when she first heard about it and changed her mind once it went online.

"One, sometimes it wakes me up. You can hear it in my house," said Greg Pirio, who has organized neighbors to press their case in public. Kasey Hatch told Loudoun Now the loud days grew more frequent as the weather warmed, and described anxiety and broken sleep she now takes medication for.

Loudoun's ordinance caps noise at 55 decibels, and county readings at homes next to the site have never exceeded that limit, Supervisor Koran Saines said, adding that new zoning enforcement officers would give residents real-time responses to complaints. The county has since set up a working group to look at how turbine noise is measured and whether the ordinance needs changing.

The Piedmont Environmental Council commissioned a study, built on Vantage's own state permit, estimating the emissions could cause three to six additional deaths a year in the area, and 17 to 33 over five years. "It's associated with asthma and increased cardiovascular impacts on especially vulnerable populations and the elderly," said Julie Bolthouse of the council. Vantage's Adam Shalapin said the permit figures are maximums rather than day-to-day reality, and that "the VAT facility operates well below those permitted limits and emits significantly less pollution."

A power failure on July 16, 2026 put the campus onto its diesel backup generators and brought a fresh round of complaints; one homeowner described diesel fumes that irritate the throat and lungs and wake them at night, and property values undercut by the noise. Phyllis Randall, chair of the county board, arranged to meet the affected residents.

What happens next is up to the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors: Saines said the county's work group will review its authority and options on data center problems, and residents such as Hatch want the noise ordinance to set limits per octave rather than on overall volume.