Power in the Dark is a six-part investigative project reported and written by 12 senior journalism majors in Washington and Lee University's Department of Journalism and Mass Communications during our winter term of 2026. 

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The students decided early in the semester to explore the data center boom in Virginia. Their timing was impeccable. They tackled a topic of public concern as it gained steam across the commonwealth and the nation. 

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In their reporting, my students interviewed people in small communities in Virginia who do not want to lose the peace and quiet of living in rural America.  

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My students examined Big Tech's influence on the world's economy and the companies' race to dominate all things AI. In the process, they sought to make sense of mind-boggling sums of money spent and earned by the world's wealthiest companies. 

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The students learned about AI data centers' seemingly insatiable demands for more land, more electricity and more environmental resources than their smaller cousins, the early data centers that primarily provided cloud storage and handled basic connections to the internet. 

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They also sought to understand complicated zoning laws and decisions by state and local politicians who've spent years smoothing the way for data centers to be built quickly and with little public oversight. 

 

One of the biggest takeaways for my students: They experienced the true meaning of government transparency and accountability as they ran into brick walls erected by public officials at all levels of the state. Time after time elected and appointed government officials refused to talk to my students–and their constituents–by invoking non-disclosure agreements, known as NDAs, that they had willingly signed, agreeing to remain silent about deals with companies worth trillions of dollars each.  

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The other significant lesson: Students learned to appreciate the importance of finding and listening to people who have been impacted the most–residents who live near massive AI data center projects. My students spent time reaching out and listening to people across Virginia who fumed in Facebook groups that they couldn't get officials they had voted for to answer questions and address their concerns. 

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Like some residents, my students filed requests under the state Freedom of Information Act to obtain copies of NDAs, performance agreements and other key documents pertaining to various data center projects. We've made several of them available on our website in hopes of better informing people who simply want answers.  

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We also consulted law students who are part of a First Amendment law clinic under the direction of Ian Kalish at the University of Virginia’s School of Law. The law students conducted research into freedom of information issues, and they told us NDAs are standard operating procedure in negotiations in the business world to protect proprietary information.  

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NDAs may be perfectly legal. But that doesn't make it right. County supervisors and water authority officials don't work for Big Tech companies. They are supposed to work for the public. Their loyalty should be to the people, not Google. Not Amazon. Not Meta. Not Microsoft. 

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As a professor of 18 years, I've witnessed the magic that occurs when bright, curious students examine an issue of major public concern. With Power in the Dark, my students have produced a potent piece of public service for people in our corner of Virginia who want to know what's going on in their backyards—and why. 

 

Toni Locy

Professor of Journalism