A planning fee in a Virginia county has voted unanimously to suggest denial of a rezoning software from Balico LLC, an industrial developer searching for to construct a number of pure gas-fired era models as half of a big knowledge heart campus.
The Pittsylvania County planning fee voted Jan. 7 to disclaim Virginia-based Balico permission to proceed with the $8.85-billion challenge. Balico just lately had revised its plan for the advanced, decreasing the scale from greater than 2,200 acres to about 760 acres. The corporate in October of final yr had requested the county to permit rezoning of the acreage from agricultural to industrial.
Balico in its preliminary software offered plans exhibiting a posh that includes a number of cellular fuel generators, a everlasting pure gas-fired energy plant, and a number of knowledge facilities. POWER had reported that the positioning might embrace as a lot as 3,500 MW of gas-fired era capability.
The Virginia Financial Improvement Partnership has mentioned the state is the biggest knowledge heart market on this planet. The group mentioned Virginia is residence to 35%, our about 150, of all identified hyperscale knowledge facilities worldwide.
Residents within the space of the proposed advanced have pushed again towards the challenge, partly because of considerations about dropping farmland. An software filed for the challenge exhibits that acreage can be adjoining to greater than 100 property homeowners.
The county’s Board of Supervisors is anticipated to make a remaining choice on the challenge on Feb. 18. Because the five-hour board assembly on Tuesday was wrapping up, Steven Gould, the legal professional representing Balico, requested the planning fee to carry off for not less than one month earlier than making a suggestion to the Pittsylvania Board of Supervisors about approval or denial of the rezoning request. “There is no such thing as a hurt in receiving extra info,” Gould mentioned. “There is no such thing as a hurt in extra consideration.”
Colette Henderson, vice chair of the planning fee, moved to suggest denying the challenge, with the movement supported unanimously by the fee members. “The reason being as a result of I really feel there was an absence of transparency,” Henderson mentioned.
Revised Plans
Balico in November of final yr mentioned it could revise its unique plans. Irfan Ali, founder and managing member of the corporate, in a press release at the moment mentioned, “To be clear, we’re not abandoning the challenge.” Ali’s feedback got here after the Herndon-based firm held two neighborhood conferences with residents over the past week of October.
“Primarily based on these discussions, we’ve got recognized assorted adjustments to our plan that we imagine will handle many questions posed and, on the similar time, enhance our proposal,” Ali mentioned.
Balico’s assertion in November mentioned space enterprise leaders have been supportive of the info heart challenge, which the corporate mentioned would supply as many as 700 high-paying jobs. The corporate’s assertion mentioned, “They acknowledge the transformative financial impression that this challenge, which features a devoted energy supply, might have on the area. Particularly its potential to generate thousands and thousands [of dollars] for schooling, recreation, and public security whereas additionally holding property taxes low for residents throughout the county.”
Commissioners on Tuesday voted earlier than the general public listening to to take away one of many land parcels from Balico’s revised software, which included 14 parcels totaling 763 acres, down from the unique 47 parcels totaling 2,233 acres within the first software from October. The entire acreage within the new request was 747 acres throughout 13 land parcels.
Gould on Tuesday mentioned Balico would nonetheless favor to pursue a challenge of the unique measurement sooner or later.
Rezoning to Enable Industrial Use
An agenda for Tuesday’s assembly mentioned Balico was requesting 13 parcels be rezoned from agricultural and residential suburban to heavy trade. The corporate’s new plan requires 12 knowledge heart buildings (down from an unique 84) and a 3,500-MW pure gas-fired energy plant.
The unique paperwork filed with the county confirmed the positioning would have 15 Mitsubishi FT8 Mobilepac cellular fuel generators, every able to producing 30 MW of electrical energy. The unique plan additionally included a second-phase growth that would come with a everlasting gas-fired energy plant that includes a number of Mitsubishi M501JAC fuel generators, in a simple-cycle configuration. Mitsubishi charges the M501JAC as producing 330 MW to 453 MW in standalone configuration.
Drawings of the positioning filed as a part of the unique software confirmed a switchyard and electrical substation, and likewise embrace a wastewater therapy facility. The paperwork additionally confirmed easements for fuel pipelines. The 303-mile Mountain Valley Pipeline, which carries pure fuel from the Marcellus and Utica shale performs, runs close to the positioning and was talked about within the software.
Balico additionally was behind plans to construct the 1.6-GW Chickahominy energy plant in Virginia, a challenge that was deserted in 2022 amid opposition from a number of teams. The corporate wished to construct a pure fuel pipeline throughout six counties to produce the plant. PJM Interconnection, the regional grid operator, canceled an interconnection request from the corporate in that very same yr, citing an absence of progress in assembly growth deadlines.
—Darrell Proctor is a senior editor for POWER.
