Data Centers in Bristow

Bristow – Strategic Expansion for Northern Virginia Workloads

Executive Summary

Bristow provides a vital alternative for organizations needing immediate access to the Northern Virginia tech corridor while avoiding the high costs of primary hubs. This market is ideal for secure workloads requiring low-latency connections to federal agencies and global commerce centers.

Bristow: At A Glance

Network & Connectivity Ecosystem

Bristow benefits from its position within the densest fiber region in North America, providing efficient paths for global traffic.

Carrier Density & Carrier Neutrality: Carrier count: over 20 as of September 2025. The market features a concentration of national and regional fiber providers, typically offering ~20–40 carriers within the immediate Prince William County area.

Direct Cloud On-Ramps: Over 0, enabling access to 0 cloud regions as of September 2025. While direct on-ramps are not physically located in Bristow, private extension options provide sub-millisecond access to major hubs in Ashburn.

Internet Exchange Points (IXPs): Peering primarily occurs via the nearest national hub in Ashburn. This allows operators to access a massive peering ecosystem without the higher real estate costs of the primary exchange sites as of September 2025.

Bare Metal: High-performance compute requirements are supported by providers like Hivelocity and phoenixNAP, which offer scalable infrastructure for specialized workloads as of September 2025.

Power Analysis

Bristow offers a stable energy environment with significant infrastructure investment aimed at supporting large-scale industrial users.

Average Cost Of Power: Industrial electricity is estimated at $0.07–$0.09/kWh, as of September 2025. The generation mix is led by natural gas, followed by nuclear and coal, ensuring consistent delivery for high-density requirements. This pricing supports lower operational costs for power-intensive deployments.

Power Grid Reliability: The local grid is well-engineered with redundant configurations and multi-substation support. These systems are purpose-built to handle the high-draw requirements of modern digital infrastructure.

Market Access, Business & Tax Climate

The business environment in Virginia is specifically structured to attract and retain large-scale technology investments.

Proximity To Key Business Districts: Data centers here are close to the Dulles technology corridor and major federal agencies. This proximity is vital for low-latency synchronization and disaster recovery for Washington DC based enterprises.

Regional Market Reach: Bristow effectively serves the entire Mid-Atlantic population, providing a central point for distribution to the Eastern Seaboard.

Tax Advantage For Data Centers: Virginia offers a significant sales and use tax exemption for data center equipment. This incentive lowers the total cost of ownership for hardware refreshes and initial deployments.

Natural Disaster Risk

Bristow maintains a Moderate (27.17) risk profile according to the FEMA National Risk Index as of September 2025. The region is inland, which limits direct exposure to many coastal threats.

The primary natural hazards include:

• Heat Waves: Frequent high-temperature events during summer months.
• Hurricanes: Indirect regional impacts from Atlantic storm systems.
• Hail: Occasional severe thunderstorm activity.
• Lightning: High frequency during seasonal storm cycles.
• River Flooding: Risks concentrated near local watersheds.
• Winter Weather: Occasional heavy snow or ice events impacting logistics.