Hopewell weighs data center at former ethanol plant site

A former ethanol plant in Hopewell could soon be the home of the city’s first-ever data center.

Volterra Advisors, a Maryland-based technology consulting firm, told The Progress-Index on July 10 that a case study it conducted with the city and the property owners found that the site at the old Green Plains plant at 701 6th Ave. could be conducive for a small data center. Volterra founder Jeramy Utara said data centers normally incorporate natural gas power into their operations, and the fact that an ethanol plant once operated there could be ideal.

“There’s potential to re-use the natural gas lines,” Utara said.

The proposed facility would not be the size of other data centers currently located in Virginia – Utara estimated it to be about 50,000 to 70,000 square feet and run on about 20 megawatts of electrical power. For comparison, the three Google data centers under construction in nearby Chesterfield County will be about 285,000 square feet and run on about 200-300 megawatts when fully built out.

About four months ago, NS Development Partners announced it had purchased the 55-acre Green Plains site and had already leased about seven acres of it to an unidentified manufacturing company.

The 60-million-gallon-per-year biofuels facility closed in 2018 after its owner cited poor market conditions. Last year, it was reportedly in the running for siting of a South Korea-based automobile customization plant that would have created 3,000 jobs.

Messages left with Hopewell city officials seeking comment on the data center possibility have not been answered.

Data centers spur debate in Virginia

Data centers are an economic boost in Virginia, as a 2024 study by the Joint Legislative Audit Review Commission (JLARC) found they generate about $9.1 billion annually in revenue. But they are also a political and consumer flashpoint.

While the state leads the world in data center locations – approximately 340, with a large percentage of that in northern Virgina – data centers almost collapsed negotiations in the General Assembly for the 2026-28 state budget. The state Senate wanted to eliminate a $1.4 billion tax exemption for data centers while the House of Delegates sought to keep it intact, and the hardline approach of each chamber took the assembly into overtime before a compromise was reached and signed the day before the budget was to be enacted.

The compromise reached keeps the exemption in place but also imposes an energy consumption tax on data centers. The tax is expected to generate $1.2 billion in revenue over the biennium.

That tax is expected to ease some concerns that citizens would wind up footing the bill for the extra electrical energy data centers consume.

Concerns about noise

In Petersburg, a proposal to build a data center near Collier Yard in the southwestern part of town has drawn the ire of residents in the adjacent Ramblewood neighborhood. They say they do not want the center so close to their homes because of copious amounts of noise a data center typically generates.

According to the Environmental and Energy Study Institute, data center noise at the property line typically comes from cooling systems, fans, and backup generators and can be heard hundreds of feet from a facility. Industry acoustic specialists estimate that noise levels at a data center’s property line commonly range from about 60 to 80 decibels, with generator testing producing higher levels. That translates into a low-frequency hum that is heard 24/7.

Utala, of Volterra, said he understands the concerns residents may have about a data center’s noise. However, if one comes to Hopewell, he added, the decibels will be no louder than what is already being heard in the city’s industrial areas because of the center’s proposed size.

He blamed the excess noise levels “on a few bad actors” within the industry but added nothing like that would happen in Hopewell.

Bill Atkinson (he/him/his) has won numerous awards during his 40-year journalism career. A Petersburg native, Bill is a 1984 graduate of Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond with a degree in mass communications. He specializes in coverage of breaking news, crime, government, and local/state/national politics. He is an avid history buff and a lifelong Washington Commanders fan. Reach him at [email protected] with news tips and story suggestions.

This article originally appeared on The Progress-Index: Hopewell weighs data center at former ethanol plant site

Reporting by Bill Atkinson, Petersburg Progress-Index/The Progress-Index

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