Last month, a group of locals went to the Pulaski County Board of Supervisors monthly meeting to speak out against the proposed Data Center. Each member of community came out with their own concerns and spoke about what something like this would do to the community, the environment, and health for citizens in Pulaski County; especially those living close to the NRV Commerce Park. They also spoke about the financial constraints that Data Centers bring about for people in the community, increasing energy costs with companies like AEP and raising the cost of electricity. Water usage of Data Centers was another concern, especially during extreme drought conditions where local water supplies are already going dry without a Data Center present. Not to mention the cost of restructuring the water system to accommodate one, if not more and where the water is going to come from if one does come in. 

Each comment was intended to voice concerns within the community, only to be met with push back from the Board of Supervisors. Both Jonathan Sweet and chairperson Laura Walters claimed that no Data Center was in progress, only that money was granted to prep land an infrastructure by the state. And that there was interest in bringing on to Commerce Park outside Dublin through the Virginia's First Regional Industrial Facility Authority(VFRIFA), and that the Pulaski County Board of Supervisors didn't have a say in the building of a Data Center in that space. Both Sweet and Chairperson Walters sit on the board of the VFRIFA, which they casually mentioned later in the meeting and confirmed after the fact along with 11 other counties and cities in the area. 

You can watch the full meeting here thanks to Patriot Publishing being there to document the meetings live: https://www.facebook.com/PatriotPublishing/videos/1591076378829968/

The People's Paper, Pulaski County took the speeches and captioned them, so it's easier to understand, you can watch individual speeches and responses form the Board of Supervisors: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61563289558727

And Patriot Publishing wrote an article the same week regarding the discussion at the BoS meeting: https://pcpatriot.com/we-dont-have-one-coming-board-chairman-says-of-data-center/?fsp_sid=3108&fbclid=IwY2xjawRP2uVleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZBAyMjIwMzkxNzg4MjAwODkyAAEeB4OVLa77ezNvPyw0i3RWcqI2E3fcJLjwQMEsWVjpj_Xswqo8qD4jNQAZHwM_aem_NUgnvPCNhaqWuJqAQyZJ9g

While it's not specifically up to the full Board of Supervisors whether a Data Center goes into the NRV Commerce Park, two members do sit on the board. More importantly, the BoS are responsible for the county at large, and the VFRIFA sits in Pulaski county. They decide on local codes, zoning, and other options that would give them a say in how things are managed here. Not to mention, requirements that a Data Center would have to follow in the county if it were being built here. This is something that they can do, but as of right now, it didn't seem like there was any concern from the board. Rather, how much money is this going to bring into the county; however, with the tax breaks that Data Centers tend to get, this might not be much at all and end up costing the community even more. 

https://stateline.org/2026/04/15/many-states-dont-report-losses-from-data-center-tax-breaks-study-says/

More updates to come, please keep sharing and finding ways to get involved, it's important that we continue to speak up and speak out.