King George County was first in line for billions in investment by Amazon Web Services in data centers under a deal with Virginia three years ago that promised at least $35 billion in capital spending on projects across the Fredericksburg region.
But now, the tiny county in rural Tidewater is locked in a legal battle with the tech giant that could be a bellwether for a high-stakes standoff between state legislators and the data center industry over a state sales tax exemption that has helped make Virginia the global center of the industry.
The legal battle in King George, set to resume in court Monday morning, revolves around Amazon’s vested property rights in zoning actions and a performance agreement that the board of supervisors approved in late 2023, only for a newly elected board majority to rescind the deal the next month and then threaten to undo its previous rezoning of agricultural land as part of the proposed data center development of a former power plant.
Read the full story in the Richmond Times-Dispatch.
