Source: https://www.sierraclub.org/, May 5, 2026
By: Tom Cassauwers

In suburban Virginia, a cluster of monumental gray buildings rise up around the unincorporated settlement of Ashburn in Loudoun County. Ringed by fencing and humming with AC, this is the new front of the digital economy—a place that has become known as Data Center Alley, the biggest data center hub in the world.

Popular large language models such as ChatGPT, Gemini, and MidJourney—marketed as artificial intelligence—need data centers to work. This has caused a boom in the construction of colossal compounds that require a massive amount of electricity and water. The companies building these compounds have brought billions of dollars in investments to Virginia, along with promises of jobs and improvements to the local economy. Read more.