Loudoun County Adds Documentation Requirements for High Energy Use Facilities Under New Virginia Law

Loudoun County has begun requiring additional documentation from land use applicants seeking to develop High Energy Use Facilities (HEUFs), implementing new mandates passed by the Virginia state assembly during its 2026 regular session. The move adds another layer of scrutiny to data center development in the county widely regarded as the world's largest data center market, where such facilities are the most common example of HEUFs.

Under Virginia law, a HEUF is defined as any facility that reasonably anticipates requiring 100 megawatts or more of electrical power from a retail electric utility. Applicants must now submit an affidavit along with copies of correspondence with their electric utility indicating the amount of energy and voltage the facility will require at full build-out, establishing a baseline determinant of their HEUF status. The servicing utility must also provide a form describing any new or existing substations that will serve the facility and the anticipated transmission voltage required.

The requirements extend to community and environmental impact. All HEUF applicants must provide the county with documentation visualizing their proximity to residential and school sites, and must submit a site assessment that includes the sound profile on residential units and schools located within 500 feet of the facility's property boundary. The assessment must further detail each proposed facility's effect on ground and surface water resources, agricultural resources, parks, registered historic sites, and forestland on or immediately adjacent to the site.

The documentation may be used by the Planning Commission and Board of Supervisors to assess a project's consistency with the policies outlined in the Loudoun County Comprehensive Plan, as well as compliance with the noise ordinance, the Loudoun County Zoning Ordinance, and other applicable local laws and regulations. The new requirements apply to all current and future legislative land use applications, though they do not apply to sites pursuing "by right" administrative approval. As of March 2025, all new data center applications in Loudoun County are required to pursue a special exception from the Board of Supervisors.

The changes reflect growing local scrutiny of the power demands and community impacts of data center development in Northern Virginia, where rapid capacity expansion has strained transmission infrastructure and drawn attention to noise and land use concerns. By requiring utility correspondence and detailed site assessments before approval, the county is formalizing the evidentiary burden on developers. More information, including links to the required affidavit and a checklist of requirements for HEUF applicants, is available at loudoun.gov/LegislativeLandUse.