Catlett Data Center Park, Catlett, Virginia

The developer pulled out three days before the planning commission was due to hear it. Headwaters Site Development had applied to rezone about 68 acres on U.S. Route 28 north of Catlett, near Gaskins Lane in Fauquier County, from industrial park to business park, for up to five data center buildings 60 feet tall. In a letter dated July 15 to the county's chief planner, Adam Shellenberger, the company's attorney Tony Calabrese wrote that "after careful consideration, we have decided not to proceed with the rezoning." The planning commission hearing had been set for Thursday, July 18, and the application had drawn community objections about concrete buildings at the entrance to the village, noise and power lines.

Supervisor Regan Washer said "I'm very upfront, and I'm not in favor of it at all," and board chairman Rick Gerhardt wanted to "rip the Band-Aid off it and move forward, and let the cards fall where they may." Chris Colvin, president of Protect Catlett, said afterwards: "We will continue to stay dialed in. We will keep a lookout for any future data center developers in Catlett, whether it be Headwaters or others."

The Piedmont Environmental Council records the Catlett project as withdrawn in July 2024, describing it as 1.4 million square feet in three to five buildings on more than 60 acres, and notes it would have needed a three mile transmission line running into Prince William County. Fauquier is carrying a heavy pipeline behind this. Approved but unbuilt are a 220,000 square foot Amazon building at Warrenton and the 1,286,000 square foot Remington Technology Park, and proposed in the south of the county are Convergent Technology Park, Gigaland and SAMX. The council says the county's existing generation is maxed out and that four proposed rezonings would double the expected data center load, needing the power of more than 500,000 homes.

The wiring is the part that reached beyond Catlett: Dominion Energy postponed its Morrisville line upgrade in April 2024, citing right of way limits, and has since asked for two new substation locations at Remington to serve complexes needing over 400 megawatts. A federal National Interest Electric Transmission Corridor designation, which would bypass state review, includes a segment through northern Fauquier near Fiery Run, and the council's recommendation is that the county build out only what is already permitted and approve nothing more.