Loudoun County in Northern Virginia has long been the center of gravity for the data center industry. It is the home of Data Center Alley, a section of Ashburn where all the major networks meet, making it the world's primary destination for Internet traffic.

As a result, Loudoun County has been on the front lines of just about every major trend in the data center sector. That includes the data center boom, and more recently the controversies involving data centers and community pushback. There have been plenty of headlines about resistance to the data center industry, most notably the Loudoun supervisors calling for a pause in development as they refine local regulations.

But Loudoun County's history tells a larger story about data centers and communities. And no one knows this better than Buddy Rizer, the executive director of economic development for Loudoun County. In our discussion, I asked Buddy to talk about what data centers have meant to the Loudoun County, including some interest metrics on economic impact, and water usage by data centers (a hot topic these days).

00:00 - On the Front Lines of the Internet Boom
01:30 - How Data Center Alley Came About
05:16 - The Conversation Beyond Loudoun
07:27 - The Data Center Industry Response
09:00 - Data Centers and Water: The Loudoun Experience

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At Data Center Richness we demystify technology and explain why data centers matter, and what comes next for the Internet, cloud computing and AI. Host Rich Miller is a journalist and analyst who has been covering the data center sector for 25 years.

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LINKS FROM THIS SHOW

Loudoun County Economic Development
https://loudounpossible.com/

Buddy Rizer on LinkedIn
https://www.linkedin.com/in/buddyrizer/

Rich Miller on LinkedIn
https://www.linkedin.com/in/datacenterfrontier/

The Godfather of Data Centers - WSJ
https://www.wsj.com/finance/the-godfather-of-data-centers-making-offers-big-tech-cant-refuse-6c52d301

The Next Data Center Constraint: Trust
https://www.datacenterfrontier.com/site-selection/podcast/55397375/the-next-data-center-constraint-trust

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How Google Built the Future of Data Centers
https://youtu.be/F33oE34X0j4?si=WKOehcvCzUSEmLAi

Can Data Centers Be Good Neighbors?
https://youtu.be/syRpAj9aCSg?si=lWeQjlca2sfq7Fdt

Why Data Centers Are Moving to Power-Rich Locations
https://youtu.be/AlIwlsiLa5M?si=X4bHMu1s6Da-VOzy

All video by Data Center Richness.

Supplemental music via Epidemic Sound
https://share.epidemicsound.com/60o8qx