Alison Rufo (’28)

I interned at the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments (MWCOG) this summer with the Department of Environmental Programs (DEP). MWCOG is a nonprofit association that brings together local politicians from DC, Virginia, and Maryland to plan for the future and pursue common policy and planning goals. The DEP houses a variety of committees and initiatives within the organization and manages regional pollution and carbon-free energy strategies. In this position I learned a lot about how governments work with each other and how local governments are organized. 

My responsibility was to assist COG’s understanding of how data center energy demand could impact the region’s net-zero by 2050 goal. Loudoun County in Northern Virginia is known as “Data Center Alley,” and is home to over 300 data centers. Nearby Fairfax and Prince William counties are catching the spillover, and the impacts on the grid are substantial. Particularly, it is increasingly unclear how concentrated data center energy demand can be met with carbon-free energy under current technology and infrastructure constraints.

My experience this summer has ignited my interest in energy policy and managing the demand of AI growth, and the lessons and skills I gained will be instrumental as I continue my career in this space. Thank you to the MIT Summer in Washington program and MWCOG for this opportunity!