REPORT: Neighbors Barricade Windows With Mattresses, Plexiglass To Escape Virginia Data Center’s High-Pitched Whine
Some Virginia residents said they faced constant noise from a local data center with a few reportedly barricading their windows with mattresses and plexiglass in a bid to keep the sound out.
Residents in Sterling said the Vantage Data Centers site has become a nuisance due to the noise, NewsNation reported Thursday. A whining sound can be heard in footage obtained by the outlet. At least one neighbor deployed a mattress to muffle the sound, according to NewsNation’s Brian Entin. Another showed how he used plexiglass and monitored the noise with a sound decibel. Locals expressed concerns about property values and quality of life.
“It’s right there, in all its glory,” resident Hari Doue said, alleging that the neighborhood was initially told that the data center was testing its generators to make sure they worked in case of an emergency. However, they have not been turned off since they were actived over a year ago, according to the resident.
“You just hear this noise, it’s just like, you just want to curse, you know, it’s that bad,” another resident, Greg Pirio, told the outlet, noting that he had reached out to attorneys.
Vantage Data Center officials said the company continues to observe the noise and does not believe it had exceeded the county’s stipulated sound intensity limit, NewsNation reported.
Loudoun County stipulates that sound levels in residential and rural areas should not exceed 55 decibels and in mixed-use residential areas should not exceed 60 decibels at any time. However, the stipulations exempt “[s]ounds created by generators and accessory equipment operating during an emergency or at the request of a utility, and the testing of said generators and emergency equipment,” along with other exemptions.
Hari advised that neighborhoods push to keep data centers out of residential areas. “Do everything in your power to try and stop it from being built in an area that has any residential properties within 10 or 15 miles of it,” she said.
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Virginia has the largest concentration of operational and prospective data centers in the U.S. at 287 and 398, respectively, according to Pew Research. The centers can provide a boost to local tax revenue. Loudoun County argues on its website that “data centers generate almost half of the county’s property tax revenues” and have allowed the county to direct more money to schools and other services.
However, data centers consumed approximately 26% of the state’s power in 2023, accord to Pew. They have also driven up energy costs, according to NewsNation. (RELATED: Lake Tahoe Residents Searching For New Power Source After Data Centers Move In)
The Vantage data center is not tied to the power grid and has its own power plant, Entin reported.
The complaints arise amid the rapid rise of data centers across the country. Federal regulators have taken steps to fast-track data centers onto the U.S. power grid system. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued show cause orders June 18 giving the six major grid providers within its jurisdiction a 60-day window to justify existing rules for bringing “large energy users,” such as data centers, onto their systems, or adjust their rules, according to a fact sheet.
The Daily Caller reached out to Vantage Data Centers and Loudoun County for comment.
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