‘A Trojan horse’: Northern Virginia congressman pushes national data center legislation – WTOP News

wtop.com · Jimmy Alexander · September 9, 2026

# ‘A Trojan horse’: Northern Virginia congressman pushes national data center legislation – WTOP News

Author: Jimmy Alexander Published: 2026-09-09T06:10:00-04:00 Source: wtop.com (wtop.com) Language: en

## Story

Rep. Suhas Subramanyam stood outside Discovery Elementary School in Ashburn, Virginia, on Tuesday. State lawmakers, local officials and community leaders gathered around him.

He called the site “the epicenter of Data Center Alley.”

“Behind me is not a data center, but actually a school surrounded by data centers where children my daughter’s ages can literally hear the noise from their playground,” Subramanyam said.

“And the parents who send their kids to the school have even considered disbanding their community altogether because they are surrounded by data centers and power lines, and they’re fed up.”

The Northern Virginia Democrat was there to announce a package of four bills that would set national requirements for data center development.

“We’ve had enough of seeing our utility bills skyrocket to build power infrastructure for data centers,” he said. “We’ve had enough noise, air and water pollution.”

During his remarks, Subramanyam referred to President Donald Trump’s recent comments on the topic.

“President Donald Trump keeps telling us that data centers are a golden goose,” Subramanyam said. “Well, I think they’re becoming a Trojan horse for our community.”

After the news conference, he told WTOP he thinks Trump would feel differently if power lines serving data centers ran through Mar-a-Lago.

Loudoun has the world’s largest concentration of the facilities, according to the county. As of March 1, 2026, approximately 233 data centers were built or under construction.

Subramanyam said he wants the industry to pay for its own power infrastructure and keep households from picking up the tab. To do that, he would require states to establish special electricity rates for large users. He said the rates would apply to existing facilities as well as future projects.

His proposed legislation also calls for keeping data centers and power lines away from homes, schools and historic parks.

Decisions about where to build should account for neighbors, energy demand and water use, he said. And he wants a clearer picture of the effects.

“Right now, we measure them based on efficiency, not actual impact,” Subramanyam said. “That’s like measuring a football team based on the size of the players, not their record or the scoreboard.”

Asked about slowing data center development, he backed state and local moratoriums.

Security is another concern. Subramanyam said he has yet to see a comprehensive plan protecting both the facilities and the power infrastructure they depend on.

He urged the Department of Homeland Security to consider helping bury transmission lines.

As for arguments that the country needs more data centers to compete with China’s efforts in artificial intelligence, he said residents are focused closer to home.

“They don’t care about any race,” Subramanyam said. “They just care about making sure they can pay the bills.”

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Virginia News

September 2026