Shortly after a data center campus proposal was announced for a Wythe County industrial park, new details have emerged about the project’s anticipated water usage, economic impact and more.
On Monday, Charlotte, North Carolina-based Cadence said that it will serve as the general contractor for the project that was first announced Dec 5.
Officials have said the campus, developed by a new company called Solis Arx, will support artificial intelligence and other advanced computing services and will bring high-tech, high-wage jobs to the county. It’s the first data center announced for Wythe County.
Cadence said in a news release that it has a background in “large-scale infrastructure, energy-intensive developments, and digitally driven operations.”
The general contractor said it “is committed to engaging with the local workforce, technical schools, subcontractors, and businesses throughout the region.”
“Our team has a proven track record of delivering sophisticated facilities under demanding schedules, and we are honored to bring that capability to Wythe County,” Cadence CEO Kevin Walsh said in the release.
Meanwhile, local officials at a recent meeting of the Wythe County Board of Supervisors shared information on aspects of the project, including its anticipated tax revenues and daily water consumption. Much of that information has also been published on the county’s website.
Some details, including how much of the 99-acre Progress Park lot will be taken up by the multiphase development and how many jobs it would entail, have yet to be finalized or made public.
“The company, with this project, has a total projected investment of over $1 billion in Wythe County. It is a very large project, the largest project that we have seen,” County Administrator Stephen Bear said at the Dec. 9 meeting.
In an email to Cardinal News, Solis Arx founder and CEO Rob Noll said of the $1 billion figure, “The investment reflects the scope of developing the facility, including construction, infrastructure, and the systems required to bring it online.”
About a dozen residents spoke about the proposal during the meeting’s public comment period.
Nearly all were against it or expressed concerns about its potential impacts on electricity rates, the local water supply, the environment, public health and the county’s rural character and future.
Resident Hannah Ainsworth said data centers across the country are “multiplying and gulping up land at alarming rates.”
“It’s 99 acres proposed today but what about next year, in three years? At what point is our region unrecognizable?” Ainsworth asked.
County resident Michael Jackson appeared to be the sole speaker during the public comment period who supported the project, although he said he did so “hesitantly, because I still have questions myself.”
“My whole life I’ve seen, or I’ve heard the older group say, ‘You know, I don’t understand why the kids have to move away to find a better job.’ But we oppose jobs like this. We only want forklift jobs or working on a production line or things like that,” Jackson said.
Data center firm would be Wythe County’s largest taxpayer
Bear said that the data center campus will bring more than $10 million in annual tax revenue to Wythe County by 2028 if the project proceeds on schedule.
Bear said in an email to Cardinal News that nearly 90% of that figure would come from business personal property taxes, while a little more than 10% would come from real estate taxes.
For context, Wythe County’s annual real estate taxes total $14 million, while its personal property taxes total $7 million in the county’s $118 million budget.
“This would be by far the individual largest taxpayer to Wythe County,” Bear said.
The money from the data center project could go toward schools, public safety, libraries and other investments, Bear said at the board meeting.
If the county were to instead raise money through higher real estate taxes, each $1.5 million would require an additional 6 cents on the current rate of 51 cents per $100 of assessed value.
“The additional revenue [from Solis Arx] provides — helps give the board of supervisors the opportunity to keep local real estate and personal property taxes low for the benefit of all citizens,” Bear said.
Water usage, transparency among residents’ concerns
Bear said that the project will use about 2,000 gallons of water a day, provided by the town of Wytheville, which he said is equivalent to a local restaurant’s consumption. Progress Park has a capacity of 1.5 million gallons a day.
Noll said in an email to Cardinal News that many older data center designs rely heavily on evaporative cooling systems that need large amounts of water. Some of these can use hundreds of thousands or even millions of gallons of water daily.
Solis Arx will use closed-loop, air-based and hybrid systems that minimize or eliminate evaporative water loss, he said.
“The site is located within an established industrial park with ample water capacity. While multiple cooling approaches were available, we chose a system that reuses water rather than consuming large volumes, keeping demand far below available capacity and supporting long term, responsible operations,” Noll said.
Some residents at the board meeting expressed skepticism about some of the information presented, including the project’s relatively low anticipated water usage.
“I would like to know where the independent data that shows the truth of these claims can be found and what the board plans to do should these claims not hold up to be true,” said resident Sara Roberson.
Regarding electricity usage, Bear said that Solis Arx worked directly with Appalachian Power to establish service and that the county was not involved, but that it would not impact local residents’ or businesses’ rates.
Regarding local incentives, Wythe County provided the Progress Park site to Solis Arx at no cost. The company will pay to grade and prepare the ungraded lot, Bear said.
The county is working with the Virginia Department of Transportation to extend a road in the industrial park. Solis Arx will be eligible for enterprise zone tax incentives that exist elsewhere in Progress Park.
Some residents at the board meeting criticized what they said was a lack of transparency from county officials about the project.
“Y’all’s duty as elected officials is to represent the voice of the people who voted for you and that’s it, you know. That should be where it stops. There should be no backdoor deals, which is what this has been,” said C.C. Coffey.
Speaking before the public comment period, David Manley, executive director of the Wythe County Joint Industrial Authority, said that Wythe County has been planning to bring a data center to Progress Park for at least 10 years.
When planning such projects, businesses typically require that local governments keep certain information confidential, a need that officials must balance with the public interest, Manley said.
“The process isn’t about arbitrary secrecy,” he said. “Instead, it’s about protecting the community’s ability to secure jobs. Economic development is globally competitive. We could never successfully compete for jobs and investment without confidentiality.”
Brian Vaught, chairman of the Wythe County Board of Supervisors, said the county has an issue larger than just the Solis Arx project in that the county does not have zoning except in two towns.
Wythe County is one of about seven of Virginia’s 95 counties that do not have zoning ordinances that govern where projects such as data centers can be developed.
“So until that’s addressed, if you don’t live in the town of Wytheville or the town of Rural Retreat, one of these could pop up as your neighbor,” Vaught said.