AWS Sterling Data Center Cluster
"You are already paying for Data Center Alley: data centers drove the record PJM price spike Virginians now cover."
Sterling, Loudoun County, VA
AWS Sterling Data Center Cluster is an operating data center in Loudoun County, VA, operated by Amazon Data Services, Inc. and ultimately owned by Amazon.com, Inc.. DataCentersExposed has documented 950 MW of reported power capacity and a 150,826 sq ft footprint at this site.
Reporting by Eric Keller · Updated Jun 17, 2026
Overview
Amazon's Sterling and Loudoun County cluster anchors the AWS US-East-1 region in the heart of Data Center Alley, the largest concentration of data centers on Earth. Loudoun runs about 4 gigawatts of capacity and Northern Virginia roughly 4,900 megawatts, more than double Beijing, the next-largest market. The famous line that 70 percent of the world's internet traffic passes through here is wrong; the real share is closer to 22 percent.
The cost shows up on power bills. Dominion warned in 2022 that it could not serve parts of eastern Loudoun, and PJM capacity prices jumped from $28.92 to $329.17 per megawatt-day, with data centers driving most of the increase. Virginia's own legislative watchdog, JLARC, projects a typical Dominion residential bill could climb $14 to $37 a month by 2040 to fund the buildout.
The county's bargain is real but lopsided. Virginia's data-center sales-tax exemption is the state's largest, about $1 billion forgone in fiscal 2024, while in Loudoun data centers sit on roughly 4 percent of commercial land yet generate around 38 percent of general-fund revenue. The county ended by-right data-center zoning in March 2025.
Operator chain
- Ultimate parentAmazon.com, Inc.
- Files asAmazon Data Services, Inc.
- This facilityAWS Sterling Data Center Cluster
Grid & water — why here
source: HIFLD · EPAThe closest existing grid infrastructure and the municipal water system this location sits in — the same constraints the buildout model screens on (it won't site a campus more than ~2 km from a substation or ~5 km from municipal water). Distances are straight-line to public HIFLD/EPA features, not a metered connection.
In the news
source: Google News- Erin Brockovich Says Data Center Risks Are Like the Infamous Contamination She Cleaned Up ‘on Steroids’ (Exclusive)People.com· Jul 11, 2026
- How Virginia’s Plans for Biggest Data Center in the World Fell ApartNewsweek· Jul 9, 2026
- Hyperscaler Debt Is Now a Rates StoryBloomberg.com· Jul 8, 2026
- There’s an AI-Sized Hole in Big Tech’s Plans to Cut EmissionsBloomberg.com· Jul 2, 2026
- Lawmakers, companies tread carefully on data center energy billPolitico· Jun 23, 2026
- Nearly 80% of data center capacity is at elevated risk to climate hazards like flooding and fire, study saysCNBC· Jun 18, 2026
Tax breaks & subsidies
source: Good Jobs First / GASB 77No per-deal tax break is linked to this site yet. No state discloses the recipient of a data-center abatement at the facility level, so per-site deals are rare in the public record. If you have a development agreement or board resolution for this site, send it to us.
Virginia reported $1B in Data Center Retail Sales and Use Tax Exemption (Va. Code § 58.1-609.3(18)) for FY2024 (Virginia Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission (JLARC) / Weldon Cooper Center). Program-wide, not attributable to this site.
Water use
No measured record exists, so this is a low-confidence model from 950 MW (disclosed IT power): 1.8 L/kWh cooling (temperate climate) + 0.5 gal/kWh embedded in PJM grid mix. How we estimate. Have a utility document? Send it and we'll replace this with the real figure.
EPA permits & violations
source: EPA ECHONo reported violations as of last sync.
What this site costs the grid
source: PJM RPM auction reportsPJM's capacity auction sets a $/MW-day price that utilities pass on to every household and business in the zone. This site sits in PJM's DOM pricing zone, where soaring data-center demand is a documented driver. See the full zone-by-zone breakdown →
950 MW of load at the zone's $333/MW-day, annualized — the capacity charge a load this size carries at the current auction price.
Separately, a typical home in this zone pays an estimated $4 to $10/mo more on the capacity portion of its bill that PJM's market monitor attributes to data-center demand. See your address's full impact →
Air quality near this site
source: AirNowAir Quality Index from the nearest AirNow reporting area (Northern Virginia), as of 2026-06-10. Regional context — not this facility's own emissions.
Who lives nearby
source: Census ACS 2023Demographics of the census tract this facility sits in (American Community Survey 5-year estimates). Environmental-justice context for who bears the local impacts.
Nearest school
source: HIFLD / NCESThe nearest public school, Guilford Elementary in Sterling, is 1.7 mi from this site (541 students).
Schools are sensitive receptors for the noise, backup-generator exhaust, and traffic a large data center brings. Straight-line distance to the nearest public school (HIFLD/NCES, US public schools only).
Hearings timeline
No public-hearing records linked to this site yet. We surface planning-commission and board-of-supervisors dates when a record names a facility. If you know of a hearing on this site, tell us.