Power, Policy, and the Price of Progress – Part One: How Did We Get Here?
🔌 How did Virginia become the world’s data center capital—and what does that mean for the Allegheny Highlands?
In Part One of our new follow-up series, Power, Policy, and the Price of Progress, we trace the political decisions and industry trends that opened the floodgates for data center development across the Commonwealth. This isn’t just about technology hubs like Loudoun County—it’s about how bipartisan legislation, corporate tax incentives, and energy infrastructure expansion have quietly reshaped Virginia’s economy over the past 25 years.
With billions of dollars flowing into the digital economy and AI-driven computing, we revisit the origins of this rapid growth and ask: what happens when the demands of that growth reach rural communities like ours?
From former governors Tim Kaine and Bob McDonnell to present-day battles over grid capacity, this story lays the groundwork for understanding the forces reshaping our region—whether we’re ready or not.
🎧 This story builds on our original reporting about AI, energy, and digital infrastructure. You can find those earlier stories—and the full series—at AlleghenyMountainRadio.org.
📻 Investigative work like this is made possible thanks to support from the Listening Post Collective.
🎧 Listen to Part One now:
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