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Louisa County: data centers & powered land

Louisa is home to two AWS campuses from an $11 billion investment and EdgeCore's planned campus at Shannon Hill of more than 1.1 GW and more than $17 billion.[1][2]

Last reviewed

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Zoning

  • Supervisors approved Technology Overlay Districts in April 2023 by a 6-1 vote, placing them in the county growth area near roads and electric transmission lines.[1]
  • The first two AWS campuses were permitted by right inside the overlay district, and none of the county's three other data center projects were required to go through the conditional use permit process.[3]
  • In 2024 the county revised the overlay district to make it smaller and to require a conditional use permit for future projects, after staff proposed removing three of six assemblages from the roughly 6,400-acre district.[3][5]
  • AWS filed a conditional use permit in 2025 for a third campus of up to 7.2 million square feet on 1,370 acres near Northeast Creek Reservoir, then withdrew it in July 2025 after resident opposition.[6][3]
  • AWS bought about 1,920 acres near Northeast Creek Reservoir for about $72 million in January 2026, most of it inside the overlay district; a county supervisor said he would propose removing the overlay from that land.[7]
  • On April 9, 2026 the Planning Commission voted 5-2 to drop the public hearing on an amendment that would have removed roughly 2,600 acres of assemblages from the overlay district.[8]

Power & transmission

  • Dominion's North Anna Power Station at Lake Anna in Louisa County runs two nuclear units of about 945 MW each.[9]
  • Dominion and Amazon announced in October 2024 that they would explore developing small modular reactors at North Anna.[10]
  • Dominion's proposed North Anna to Bristers 500 kV and 230 kV project, originally about 70 miles from North Anna Substation in Louisa to Bristers Substation in Fauquier County, is now split into two projects; Dominion plans to file the southern North Anna to Thornburg segment with the SCC in fall 2026.[11]
  • EdgeCore says Rappahannock Electric Cooperative and its affiliate Hyperscale Energy will supply power to its Shannon Hill campus.[2]

Utilities

UtilityType
Dominion Energy VirginiaInvestor-owned utility
Rappahannock Electric CooperativeElectric cooperative

Campuses

CampusOperatorStatus
Lake Anna Technology CampusAmazon Web ServicesUnder construction
Desper Creek Technology CampusAmazon Web ServicesProposed
EdgeCore Louisa (Shannon Hill)EdgeCore Digital InfrastructureUnder construction

Incentives & taxes

  • The county planned a performance agreement with AWS that could include a rebate of tax revenues; local reporting says the AWS agreement has no cap.[1][4]
  • EdgeCore's performance agreement, approved unanimously, pays an annual grant of 15% of the company's real and business personal property taxes from 2027 through 2041, capped at $15 million.[4]
  • Supervisors cut the personal property tax rate from $2.43 to $2.07 per $100 in April 2026, which officials attributed to early data center revenue.[12]

Water

  • Supervisors unanimously approved an $87,925,980 AWS utilities infrastructure budget, covering raw water pumping, pipelines, wastewater and fiber links to the two AWS campuses, with AWS paying 100% of the cost according to county economic development staff.[13]
  • Amazon said its January 2026 land purchase will help support water infrastructure needs in the area, and a county supervisor said Amazon plans a water pipeline through the property to the North Anna Technology Campus.[7]

Fiber

  • The AWS-funded county infrastructure project includes IT fiber connections to the North Creek and Lake Anna technology campuses.[13]

Local sentiment

  • Residents opposed the third AWS campus over noise, traffic, water use and loss of rural character, the Mineral Town Council publicly opposed it, and some residents floated a moratorium.[3]
  • The Piedmont Environmental Council has warned that data center tax revenue can be volatile because computing equipment depreciates quickly.[3]

Known gaps

  • Louisa County's own website pages on the Technology Overlay District could not be loaded, so ordinance text and the exact current overlay acreage were not verified from a primary source.
  • The county's data center equipment tax rate was not confirmed from a loadable source.
  • Megawatt capacity of the AWS Louisa campuses and which utility serves them were not confirmed by a primary source.
  • Status of the James River Water Authority intake and pipeline, and whether it serves data centers, was not verified with a current source.
  • Whether the Board acted on the proposed overlay removal after the Planning Commission's April 2026 vote was not confirmed.

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Sources

  1. Amazon to invest $11 billion in Louisa County Charlottesville Community Engagement (infocville). Accessed .
  2. New Louisa County, Virginia Data Center Campus EdgeCore Digital Infrastructure. Accessed .
  3. Amazon pulls Louisa County data center proposal after strong resistance Virginia Mercury. Accessed .
  4. BOS OKs performance agreement with EdgeCore The Central Virginian. Accessed .
  5. Supervisors relay residents concerns with data centers The Central Virginian. Accessed .
  6. AWS withdraws plans for third data center campus in Louisa County, Virginia DatacenterDynamics. Accessed .
  7. Amazon Web Services purchases nearly 2,000 acres of land in Louisa County WVVA / Gray Media. Accessed .
  8. PC votes to not consider TOD removal The Central Virginian. Accessed .
  9. North Anna Power Station Dominion Energy. Accessed .
  10. Dominion and Amazon to partner on modular nuclear reactors in Louisa County Charlottesville Community Engagement (infocville). Accessed .
  11. North Anna to Bristers Project Dominion Energy. Accessed .
  12. Data center revenue helps Louisa County cut personal property tax rate CvilleRightNow. Accessed .
  13. BOS approves AWS infrastructure project The Central Virginian. Accessed .

13 sources cited. See the methodology for how facts are selected and reviewed.