VA county asks employees to 'turn off' lights as energy rates spike

A Virginia county, which contains 37 operating data centers and has plans to build at least 17 more, recently asked teachers and other county employees to start switching off their lights as the area’s electricity rates jump 25%, starting Wednesday.

The increase in electricity costs for Henrico County government and school buildings will add an estimated $5 million in county expenses in the new fiscal year, according to a June 26 email written by County Manager John Vithoulkas. Henrico County anticipates “more rate increases for electricity in the years ahead,” he said.

Vithoulkas instructed employees to “turn off” the lights when leaving the office, shut down their computers or laptops for the day, adjust the blinds to manage sunlight, unplug any appliances or chargers when not in use, and limit the use of space heaters. The county manager noted that one space heater can cost the county up to $300 in annual electricity costs.

“To mitigate the impact of higher electric costs, I am asking that we, collectively, make slight adjustments to conserve electricity across our individual workspaces,” Vithoulkas said.

The county’s electric bill is going up due to a combination of unprecedented demand from data centers powering artificial intelligence and rising fuel costs exacerbated by the Iran war.

While Henrico County has more than three dozen operational data centers, it is not home to the most data centers in Virginia. That achievement belongs to Loudoun County, which hosts roughly 250 data centers in the northern part of the state.

Henrico County, located in eastern Virginia outside Richmond, has a population of nearly 350,000 people.

While county leaders have openly encouraged the development of AI data centers, Henrico has started tightening zoning regulations and imposing noise limits as local pushback against the technology infrastructure grows.