Data centers, which power the internet and daily digital life as we know it, have existed for decades.

But there has been a data center boom in recent years, one that has reached the Fredericksburg area in a big way.

With millions of square feet approved and more expected, Stafford and Spotsylvania counties stand front and center in high-tech development that continues to reshape Virginia, the so-called data center capital of the world.

The Stafford Technology Campus is a 504-acre site approved for 5.8 million square feet of space across 20 buildings on Eskimo Hill Road in Stafford County.

Across the U.S., there are 4,438 data centers (many are operating, but others are only approved or under construction), equaling nearly half of the world's total, according to datacentermap.com.

Virginia has the most approved or operating data centers in the country, with 633. The next-closest state is Texas, with 476.

Northern Virginia was the state’s first hotbed for the facilities, led by Loudoun County. The county has more than 200 data centers now operating or approved, according to datacentermap.com.

Data centers can be lone facilities or massive buildings grouped on large campuses.

Those bigger, “hyperscale” data center campuses are coming to Spotsylvania, Stafford and Fredericksburg.

Data centers popped on the Fredericksburg area radar in January 2023 when Spotsylvania held a public hearing on a “techno campus.”