# Henrico County Has 37 Data Centers – and Is Asking Teachers to Turn Off the Lights > Source: > Published: 2026-06-30 18:29:49+00:00 Somewhere in [Henrico County](https://henrico.gov/), Virginia, a teacher is being asked to shut down a computer at night so the county can shave a few bucks off its electric bill. Meanwhile, [ 37 data centers](https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/26/06/30/171238/county-with-37-data-centers-asks-schools-to-conserve-electricity?utm_source=rss0.9mainlinkanon&utm_medium=feed) hum along across roughly **2,700 acres** of county land, each one drinking power at a scale that makes your home energy use look like a nightlight — a demand surge accelerated by projects like the [Stargate Project](https://www.gadgetreview.com/openai-and-partners-launch-500-billion-stargate-project). On June 26, County Manager John Vithoulkas emailed thousands of employees — including school staff — with the news: electricity rates jump **25%** on July 1, adding about **$5 million** in annual costs. His fix? “Collectively make slight adjustments.” ## The Math Nobody Did Out Loud *Data centers now drive the majority of wholesale electricity price increases in the region — and your bill reflects it.* A single **hyperscale data center** can consume over **100 megawatts** — comparable to the usage of tens of thousands of homes. Virginia hosts the world’s largest concentration of these facilities, and PJM’s independent market monitor found data centers drove **63%** of last year’s capacity price increases across the regional grid. That cost doesn’t stay abstract. It lands on every ratepayer in the territory — a pattern familiar to those who’ve followed [tech scandals](https://www.gadgetreview.com/evil-tech-scandals-failures-that-took-advantage-millions-people) where costs are quietly shifted onto ordinary people. Vithoulkas’s conservation email reads like a personal-finance app notification applied to a municipal budget crisis. Employees are advised to: - Turn off lights - Adjust blinds - Skip the space heater — each one costs the county $150 to $300 per year in electricity “Each dollar we can save by conserving electricity is another dollar the county can reinvest into staff and the services we provide our residents,” [he wrote](https://www.404media.co/henrico-virginia-datacenter-energy-cost-email/). Reasonable advice, in isolation. But asking employees to unplug idle chargers while hosting facilities that consume megawatts by the hundred carries a certain dry comedic weight that no county manager memo can fully neutralize. ## The Deal Henrico Made *Tax breaks attracted billions in investment and funded affordable housing — but the capacity costs weren’t part of the pitch.* Henrico slashed its data-center equipment tax rate to [ $0.40 per $100](https://www.wtvr.com/2017/04/26/henrico-slashes-tax-rates-for-data-centers-hoping-to-attract-business) of assessed value in 2017. The bet paid off on paper: White Oak Technology Park attracted **$2.25 billion** in assessed value, with **$10.6 billion** more in planned investment. The county even channeled revenue into a **$60 million** Affordable Housing Trust Fund, according to Time Magazine — a genuine, tangible community benefit worth acknowledging. Capacity costs, however, followed close behind. When data centers spike peak grid demand, utilities must build more infrastructure — and those costs spread across all customers, residential and institutional alike. Energy analysts reviewing PJM data project that average household bills in Dominion’s territory could exceed **$315 per month** within 15 years — a reminder of how many things residents are already [paying too much](https://www.gadgetreview.com/things-youre-paying-too-much-for-without-realizing) for without realizing it. Henrico residents already pay around **$145 monthly**, ranking the county among Virginia’s pricier areas for electricity. [Meta states](https://www.gadgetreview.com/meta-builds-its-own-skilled-trades-army-with-115-million-job-guarantee) that its global data-center electricity use is matched with 100% clean and renewable energy at the corporate level. Grid-level capacity pricing, though, doesn’t adjust for corporate accounting. Henrico has begun tightening zoning, imposing noise limits, and restricting where new data centers can locate. Those are meaningful steps. Thirty-seven facilities are already running, however, and the [conservation](https://www.gadgetreview.com/solar-beats-coal-for-first-time-in-us-electricity-history) email has already landed. Residents in counties actively courting this industry may want to keep a close eye on their utility bills — the ask for “slight adjustments” tends to arrive right on schedule.