Richmond's data center boom could raise your power bill
The Richmond region continues to welcome new data centers, the vital yet sometimes controversial facilities underpinning our digital lives and the AI explosion.
Why it matters: The data center growth could end up costing locals more in their energy bills, according to a recent report from the state watchdog agency.
The big picture: The massive server complexes that allow you to connect to a Zoom meeting or stream videos are driving a surge in electricity demand in Virginia, especially amid the rapid growth of new AI tools.
That's according to a report out late last year from the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission, the state's watchdog group.
If unconstrained, the state's demand for power could double within the next 10 years, JLARC found.
That would likely end up costing Virginia residents, and Dominion Energy customers specifically, $14 to $37 more a month in their power bill by 2040.
Zoom in: Virginia's data center market is still "growing rapidly," and not just in NoVa, JLARC found.
"Significant new market growth is expected in counties outside of Northern Virginia and along the I-95 corridor to Central Virginia," according to the report.
Roughly a third of all data centers in the state are near residential areas, a trend the report's authors expect to continue.
In Chesterfield and Henrico, 38% of data centers are within 500 feet of a residential area, and now some residents have started to fight against proposals to add more near their homes.
By the numbers: There are 53 data centers in the Richmond area, according to DataCenterMap.com.
That's a fraction of the 537 across the state with the vast majority concentrated in Northern Virginia. But it still gives Richmond the second highest concentration of data centers in Virginia, the data center capital of the world.
The latest: Denver-based development firm Tract recently filed an application to rezone 700 acres in Chesterfield to allow for the construction of up to 11 data centers, BizSense reported this week.
The site is next to Chester Solar Technology Park, another data center (and solar energy) project in the works in Chesterfield. It comes from the same development group that last year successfully rezoned 1,200 acres in Hanover for " dozens" of data centers.
Last year, even more data centers were approved in Chesterfield, Henrico and even Powhatan, which okayed a $2.7 billion project to bring the first data centers to that county.
The other side: Data centers aren't all bad, JLARC found. While they tend to only support a small number of long-term jobs after initial construction, those jobs tend to pay well.
Plus, the centers can also pump millions in tax revenue into local economies. Some places, like Henrico, are using the money to help residents by funding an affordable housing trust.
What we're watching: A handful of bills attempting to regulate data centers in the state are still working their way through the General Assembly, including one that would require developers to submit noise and electrical infrastructure studies if being built near homes or schools.
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