Virginia county urges power saving measures amid 25% electricity rate hike, data center growth
John Vithoulkas, the county manager in Virginia’s Henrico County, is asking county employees to cut back on power usage as electricity rates soar 25% across Virginia, the state with by far the most data centers.
In a June 26 email sent out to all county employees and obtained by the Henrico Citizen, Vithoulkas asked employees to adjust individual habits as electricity rates increased by 25% and noted that prices were likely to shoot up even higher.
“Beginning July 1st, the rate we pay for electricity used in all Henrico County government and school facilities will increase dramatically — by 25%, increasing costs by an estimated $5 million next fiscal year. We anticipate more rate increases for electricity in the years ahead,” Vithoulkas wrote.
Vithoulkas laid out a number of steps that employees should take to reduce their power usage, including turning off lights when leaving work, shutting down computers, pulling blinds closed and unplugging chargers.
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He compared the electric austerity request to the county’s efforts to cut back during the late 2000s Great Recession.
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“Those of you who have been here long enough will recall the many cost-saving measures we implemented to help navigate the Great Recession more than 15 years ago. We are seeing this same innovation and creativity as each department seeks ways to reduce expenses by 3% in next fiscal year’s budget,” Vithoulkas wrote.
Henrico County is a member of the Virginia Energy Purchasing Governmental Association (VEPGA). The 25% price increase, the Henrico Citizen reported, applies to all counties that are members of VEPGA, which includes the majority of Virginia municipalities north of Richmond.
Virginia is by far the state with the most data centers in the U.S., the vast majority of which reside in the northern and central regions of the state.
Northern Virginia dominates, with more than a quarter of U.S. data centers and 13% of the world’s, according to Virginia’s Joint Legislative and Audit Review Commission (JLARC). But with the north near capacity, central Virginia areas like Richmond are increasingly absorbing new builds and rapidly becoming a hub for new facilities, JLARC notes.
While Vithoulkas did not specifically cite Virginia’s explosion of data center construction in recent years as a factor in energy increases, JLARC’s 2023 data center assessment concluded that “the data center industry boom in Virginia has substantially driven up energy demand in the state,” adding that “data centers’ increased energy demand will likely increase system costs for all customers, including non-data center customers.”
FOX Business contacted Vithoulkas and Henrico County for comment.
