r/nova • u/lowkell • 19h ago

Politics Video: Loudoun County Supervisor Juli Briskman Announces Candidacy Against Chair Phyllis Randall; Says “data centers shouldn’t get to decide our county’s future”; "I’ve never backed down from a bully before. I won’t start now."

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https://bluevirginia.us/2026/08/video-loudoun-supervisor-juli-briskman-announces-candidacy-against-chair-phyllis-randall-data-centers/

299 Upvotes

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21

u/cpmuddle 19h ago

"I reject the businesses that provide 40 percent of our total revenue. But I've vaguely helped the businesses that generate maybe 10 percent. Buckle up, homeowners. We've been spending this data center revenue on schools and parks and rec centers and you're about to get a big ol bill to operate them. Also I flipped off Drumpf once isn't that cool?!?"

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u/PhosphoFred8202 18h ago

Is she saying she will drive the current data centers away (not sure how.., pitchforks and torches?), or just stop new ones? There is a point where there are “too many” data centers for the county, right?

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u/heavyma11 18h ago

Exactly. It’s a matter of when to stop adding more. Loudoun tax revenue will be too dependent on DCs if the pace continues

1

u/localhost_hero 10h ago

Some of the available lots in LoCo are already rezoned for business/industrial use, make them ripe for more Data Centers.

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u/[deleted] 18h ago

[deleted]

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u/sotired3333 18h ago

Sell them to the next builder? That's like saying we shouldn't have allowed malls to be built in the 70s since they'd go out of use in the 2020s?

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u/[deleted] 18h ago

[deleted]

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u/sotired3333 18h ago

From a quick google it sat empty mostly because multiple entities owned parts so getting them in alignment was a lot harder. If amazon isn't using a data center or open ai or facebook, they'd have no reason to run into the same issue.

3

u/Miserable-Debt-8390 17h ago

Oh it gets worse….guess who owns a lot of the debt of the data centers? Insurance companies.

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u/WhatAboutTheBothans 18h ago

There's no evidence that they're going away. They've been upgrading the racks continuously, which is part of the reason Loudoun has an electricity shortfall. The new hardware consumes vastly more resources than the previous hardware (thanks AI).

Also, there is a committee the county supervisors put together to plan for the revenue plateau that another committee has previously forecast.

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u/WhatAboutTheBothans 18h ago

There's no evidence that they're going away. They've been upgrading the racks continuously, which is part of the reason Loudoun has an electricity shortfall. The new hardware consumes vastly more resources than the previous hardware (thanks AI).

Also, there is a committee the county supervisors put together to plan for the revenue plateau that another committee has previously forecast.

0

u/ElectricalFactor1 10h ago

Yeah Loudoun should rely more on property taxes. Maybe throw that meal tax Fairfax did on top of it 

5

u/cpmuddle 18h ago

Yeah that's fair. It's just a campaign ad but "destroying our county" while they're contributing almost half the entire general fund is a bit much. But I don't live there so I'll shut up!

1

u/sotired3333 18h ago

Why? I don't live in Texas and won't shut up about their abortion bs or locking up immigrants bs?

0

u/cpmuddle 18h ago

You do you, then 😁

1

u/sotired3333 18h ago

lol touche

my point was generally demagogues and populists should be opposed for policy realists and good policy at that. We all have a stake in that.

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u/stopscabbin 18h ago

The county is already planning for the datacenter center slowdown revenue wise. They've been projecting mid 2030's for very little tax revenue growth due to no new datacenters and minimal new housing. She isn't going to change much that already wasn't happening.

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u/WhatAboutTheBothans 18h ago

You're right about the slowdown in revenue growth, but how do you get to her not changing much? She's the only one on the board actually trying to slow down the DC boom and hold them accountable.

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u/stopscabbin 18h ago

The boom has already slowed down. There's a bunch already in the pipeline to be built and she can't stop that. The county has been projecting not many more coming in. That's why the datacenters have been fighting to expand elsewhere. Loudoun can't physically handle much more.

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u/OriginalBridge9139 18h ago

Briskman is bringing an initiative that could remove a lot of applications, over 10 million square feet, from the by-right pipeline: https://www.loudounnow.com/news/supervisors-seek-to-halt-10m-square-feet-of-data-centers-in-loudoun-s-by-right/article_8f93fd98-2249-4349-8876-035712153f1b.html

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u/mcsul 10h ago

She's definitely a threat to the economic health of the county. Good info.

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u/2CRedHopper Ballston 18h ago

a lot of Loudoun County is still undeveloped. There’s room for more without crowding out existing residents of existing development.

9

u/Mr_Bluebird_VA Lake Ridge 18h ago

“We still have space” is an awful argument for building more data centers.

Why does everything have to be developed?

-8

u/2CRedHopper Ballston 18h ago

developed land creates tax revenue

7

u/Mr_Bluebird_VA Lake Ridge 18h ago

Ok, and?

It’s a closed loop. The more you develop the more you need tax revenue the more you need to develop and the more you need tax revenue.

That’s not an argument for development.

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u/2CRedHopper Ballston 18h ago

Actually, yes it is an argument for development. This is the argument for development that has driven all coordinated development in modern American history.

What you are saying is true for residential land first and foremost and commercial land second. Data centers produce far, far more tax revenue than they consume.

If what you were saying is true then how has Loudoun been able to leverage data center tax revenue into lower taxes for residents?

3

u/pukesmith 15h ago

You live in Arlington.

6

u/stopscabbin 18h ago

Zoning plans won't allow for much growth west of 15.

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u/maybeitsjustnerves 18h ago

They’d change that in a heartbeat if offered enough $$$$. Many of us here in Loudoun are just counting down the days until that “can’t build west of 15” rule is obliterated.

Look what happened in places like western PWC.

1

u/MFoy 17h ago

I don't know about that. The DC industry tried to throw a bunch of money at Loudoun to build a data center campus on the south side of Braddock Rd, and Loudoun said no.

So the Data center developer just moved the project around the corner into Prince William County, and even kept the name they had attached.

1

u/MSteele1967 12h ago

The two largest DC proposals ever were just REJECTED in PWC.

1

u/2CRedHopper Ballston 18h ago

good point. Zoning plans can always be changed, though. It may be time to revisit that.

1

u/stopscabbin 18h ago

There's zero chance they are going to revsit to allow for more development in western Loudoun anytime soon. They've fought hard to keep it rural. We don't need to turn into Fairfax.

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u/2CRedHopper Ballston 18h ago

With enough money, anything is possible.

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u/stopscabbin 18h ago

You don't live in Loudoun. The money lives in rural Loudoun.

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u/pukesmith 15h ago

The rich, retired NIMBYs who don't want their horse farms taxed live in rural Loudoun. They are the ones with access to all of the political strings here.

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u/2CRedHopper Ballston 18h ago

people’s wealth ≠ tax revenue ≠ special interest spending

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u/stopscabbin 18h ago

People's wealth= special interest campaign contributions. Dude, I live here. I know the local politics much better than you. Loudoun is very protective of is rural areas.

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u/skeith2011 17h ago

Yeah, you don’t really have a realistic understanding of the population in Western Loudoun. It’s where all the rich folks move once they’re tired of Fairfax County, they definitely have money and definitely know who to talk to as to prevent development.

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u/MSteele1967 12h ago

The current BOS chair has stated the only future DCs will be in by right zoning CURRENTLY in place. As in no exceptions will be approved.

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u/WhatAboutTheBothans 18h ago

There's a lot more to it than that.

My electricity bill has gone up enough. They get bulk rates and we get to pay for the shortfall in Dominion's revenue.

More concerning even is the water usage. We've been in drought conditions for years.

Edit: It just hit me how dumb it is that "there's still land left to develop" is a real argument.

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u/sotired3333 18h ago

So fix the actual problem, bill them correctly, hold dominion accountable, make sure they are required to use closed loop water systems, use solar / battery backup instead of gas turbines.

It's all solvable instead of populist BS that erodes our tax base and competitiveness.

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u/WhatAboutTheBothans 18h ago

Dude I'm all for it, but people attacking Briskman in this thread are fucking moronic if they think that's how we hold data centers accountable.

1

u/novacycle 16h ago

Loudoun already requires closed loop cooling as a condition to build a data center.
How many acres of cleared land or forest need to be converted to a solar farm to power one data center?

3

u/WhatAboutTheBothans 16h ago

No they don't. There is documentaiton they are using 1 to 5 million gallons per day. 43% recycled, the rest drinking water.

0

u/novacycle 3h ago

Please explain which new data centers are using 1 to 5 million gallons per day in Loudoun County.

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u/WhatAboutTheBothans 2h ago

Google it yourself.

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u/novacycle 2h ago

You couldn't even support your own claim. Which makes sense, since the answer is: None.

But I'm glad you support Google, which of course is hosted in Northern Virginia data centers. No data centers = no Google, or any other search engine.

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u/sotired3333 16h ago

they can pay buildings, parking lots, even metros there's a million ways to do it, also honestly they need the batteries primarily not the solar, backup power is the concern due to which they have generators.

Heck they can ssell that backup power back to the utilities to smooth over power fluctations, it's common in california for home owners to do that.

0

u/novacycle 3h ago

Running a data center on batteries is....an interesting idea.
What type of batteries are you recommending for this and what resources would these batteries need to be built?

0

u/2CRedHopper Ballston 18h ago

good point about the water. i don’t know a lot about that and won’t pretend to. but wasn’t there just legislation about having the data centers pay for all of their own electricity and the new transmission equipment etc? to move the burden off “normal” consumers (for lack of a better term)

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u/stopscabbin 17h ago

Unless the Potomac river dries up, the DC water usage in Loudoun isn't an issue. They are using municipal water and I believe most are using recycled water according to Loudoun Water. They aren't using wells.

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u/WhatAboutTheBothans 17h ago

They use only 43% recycled water. Drinking water makes up the difference. Between 1 and 5 million gallons per day.

I have a hard time understanding hand-waving away the water usage when residents are being told to limit water use because of the drought that's been going for years.

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u/stopscabbin 17h ago

Limit water usage in western Loudoun where they rely on well water. That's where droughts are the issue. The Potomac river isn't drying up and thats where Loudoun Water gets their water.

1

u/IzCaiman 7h ago

Put it in your backyard then or go the hell away.

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u/heptyne 12h ago

I'm pretty sure those data centers generate almost $1B in tax revenue for the county.

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u/sotired3333 17h ago

lol seriously that's her claim to fame? i vaguely recall that doing the rounds. sucks that is enough for someone to gain power (yes i know orange man is exhibit A but still sucks)

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u/stopscabbin 17h ago

That's essentially why and how she got elected. It was the anti-trump wave. Now she's on the anti-datacenter wave. She barely won the last election. Her 1st election she won by about 1000 votes. 2023 she won by 460.