The data centers that fuel the artificial intelligence (AI) revolution are pushing up electricity prices for households in America and meaningful price relief may not arrive anytime soon,
according to energy specialists. These energy specialists and economists identify electricity-intensive data centers that support AI initiatives as a major factor behind the price increases. And now residents of a County in Virginia are reportedly experiencing this. Henrico County is a significant hub for data centers in Virginia.

According to a report in 404 Media, on June 26, the County Manager of Henrico County, Virginia, John Vithoulkas, reportedly sent an email to thousands of county employees asking them to help the local government conserve electricity. “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.” 404 Media claims to have seen a copy of the email sent “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 wrote in the email. He adds, “Turn off your lights

when leaving your workspace, including when you leave for the day. Turn off your computers/laptops at the end of each workday. If your workspace has windows, adjust the blinds to manage heat from sunlight. Unplug any appliances, chargers, or other electrical items when they are not in use. Please limit use of (or refrain altogether from using) space heaters. A typical space heater alone can cost the county from $150 to $300 per year in electricity costs.”

Vithoulkas’s email further said that these small changes may seem insignificant but that they add up. “Each dollar we can save by conserving electricity is another dollar the county can reinvest into staff and the services we provide our residents,” it said. It also noted that many county buildings had been outfitted with solar panels and that the people of Henrico had faced similar challenges in the past. 
 

Henrico County residents have complained about datacenters

Henrico County is a community of more than 350,000 people in eastern Virginia. It also hosts 37 data centers and there are plans to build 17 more. These datacenter plans include converting hundreds of acres of Civil War battlefields into data centers. Before I rewrite this, one important point: the opening sentence contains a factual claim ("Henrico County's proximity to Washington DC and vast amounts of land has made the County a data center hub") that I can't verify from the text alone. If this is intended for publication, it's worth confirming.

Using the same structure and approximate length, here's a lightly varied version:

Henrico County's location near Washington, DC, and its extensive available land have helped the County become a data center hub. The customer base of these datacenters includes both large and smaller companies. Facebook and WhatsApp parent Meta also established a data center there in 2017. With the data centers have come challenges and community opposition. During a community meeting earlier this year regarding new development projects, Henrico residents reportedly raised concerns about water consumption, noise,
and the increasing cost of their electricity bills. One Henrico woman reportedly said her electricity bill doubled in the month of January despite using solar panels and a heat pump to help reduce costs.