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John Vithoulkas, the county supervisor in Virginia’s Henrico County, is asking county staff to chop again on energy utilization as electrical energy charges soar 25% throughout Virginia, the state with by far essentially the most information facilities.
In a June 26 e-mail despatched out to all county staff and obtained by the Henrico Citizen, Vithoulkas requested staff to regulate particular person habits as electrical energy charges elevated by 25% and famous that costs have been prone to shoot up even larger.
“Starting July 1st, the speed we pay for electrical energy utilized in all Henrico County authorities and faculty services will improve dramatically — by 25%, rising prices by an estimated $5 million subsequent fiscal yr. We anticipate extra fee will increase for electrical energy within the years forward,” Vithoulkas wrote.
Vithoulkas laid out quite a lot of steps that staff ought to take to cut back their energy utilization, together with turning off lights when leaving work, shutting down computer systems, pulling blinds closed and unplugging chargers.
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Virginia’s Henrico County Supervisor John Vithoulkas. (Henrico County)
He in contrast the electrical austerity request to the county’s efforts to chop again through the late 2000s Nice Recession.
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“These of you who’ve been right here lengthy sufficient will recall the numerous cost-saving measures we carried out to assist navigate the Nice Recession greater than 15 years in the past. We’re seeing this identical innovation and creativity as every division seeks methods to cut back bills by 3% in subsequent fiscal yr’s finances,” Vithoulkas wrote.
Henrico County is a member of the Virginia Vitality Buying Governmental Affiliation (VEPGA). The 25% worth improve, the Henrico Citizen reported, applies to all counties which might be members of VEPGA, which incorporates the vast majority of Virginia municipalities north of Richmond.
The Virginia State Capitol is proven on July 12, 2023, in Richmond, Virginia. (Win McNamee/Getty Photos / Getty Photos)
Virginia is by far the state with essentially the most information facilities within the U.S., the overwhelming majority of which reside within the northern and central areas of the state.
Northern Virginia dominates, with greater than 1 / 4 of U.S. information facilities and 13% of the world’s, based on Virginia’s Joint Legislative and Audit Overview Fee (JLARC). However with the north close to capability, central Virginia areas like Richmond are more and more absorbing new builds and quickly changing into a hub for brand new services, JLARC notes.
“Knowledge Middle Alley” throughout excessive temperatures in Sterling, Virginia, on Monday, June 23, 2025. (Pete Kiehart/Bloomberg by way of Getty Photos / Getty Photos)
Whereas Vithoulkas didn’t particularly cite Virginia’s explosion of information heart building in recent times as a consider vitality will increase, JLARC’s 2023 information heart evaluation concluded that “the information heart business increase in Virginia has considerably pushed up vitality demand within the state,” including that “information facilities’ elevated vitality demand will doubtless improve system prices for all clients, together with non-data heart clients.”
FOX Enterprise contacted Vithoulkas and Henrico County for remark.
