ASHBURN, Virginia, July 7 — In a county that powers much of the world’s internet, a different kind of current is running through construction sites: the theft of copper wiring, grounding cables and high-end networking equipment. Loudoun County, Virginia, home to over 200 data centers as of 2024 and widely known as Data Center Alley, has seen a 40% increase in construction site thefts in 2024 compared to 2023, according to the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office. The county hosts facilities for Amazon Web Services, Google, and Microsoft.
The stolen goods are not random. Thieves are targeting copper wiring and grounding cables, materials with high scrap value.
But they are also making off with networking switches that can cost up to $50,000 each. One incident in Ashburn, Virginia, in May 2024 illustrates the scale: thieves stole $200,000 worth of copper cable from a data center construction site. The data center industry contributed $1.2 billion in tax revenue to Loudoun County in 2023, according to the Northern Virginia Technology Council.
Security Upgrades and Drone Patrols
Construction firms are responding with a mix of old and new tactics. Increased security patrols are now a standard feature at many sites. But the more eye-catching response has been the use of surveillance drones, hovering above fenced-off construction zones to spot intruders before they can strip a site of its valuable metal.
The thefts have not slowed the industry’s momentum. The data center construction market in Northern Virginia is projected to grow by 15% annually through 2028.
Loudoun County’s transformation from horse country to the digital backbone of the East Coast has been one of the most dramatic economic shifts in modern American history. But that growth has a gritty underside. The same construction boom that generates $1.2 billion in tax revenue also creates opportunities for criminals who see the copper wire and networking gear as easy money.
What Comes Next
The Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office has not released specific arrest numbers or identified any organized crime groups behind the thefts. But the 40% increase suggests a problem that is accelerating faster than law enforcement can keep pace. For the construction firms building the next generation of data centers, the calculus is shifting.
Security is no longer an afterthought — it is a line item in the budget, alongside concrete, steel, and fiber optic cable. Whether drones and patrols can stem the tide remains an open question.
But in Data Center Alley, the race between builders and thieves is now part of the landscape.
