Article By Frank Bergman
Public schools in Henrico County, Virginia, are being told to cut electricity use as the region suffers through a brutal heatwave while dozens of artificial intelligence (AI) data centers continue consuming massive amounts of power.
Henrico County is home to 37 data centers.
Another 17 are on the way.
Now, as the East Coast bakes under dangerous summer heat, county officials are warning government employees and schools that electricity costs are soaring.
The demand came just days before the heatwave hit the area.
Beginning July 1, electricity rates for Henrico County government and school facilities will jump by 25 percent.
That increase is expected to cost taxpayers an estimated $5 million in the next fiscal year.
County Manager John Vithoulkas warned employees that more hikes are likely coming.
“Beginning July 1st, the rate we pay for electricity used in all Henrico County government and school facilities will increase dramatically — by 25 percent, increasing costs by an estimated $5 million next fiscal year,” Vithoulkas wrote in an email obtained by 404 Media.
“We anticipate more rate increases for electricity in the years ahead.”
Schools Told to Conserve Power
Vithoulkas did not explicitly mandate that schools turn down air conditioning.
But the message was clear enough.
Electricity is getting more expensive, and public facilities are being told to use less of it.
That warning comes at the worst possible time.
Summer heatwaves are when indoor cooling becomes most essential.
These periods are also times when electricity demand puts the greatest strain on the power grid.
In Henrico County, that grid is already under pressure from sprawling data centers that consume huge amounts of electricity to power and cool servers.
“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.
He urged workers to turn off lights when leaving their workspace, shut down computers and laptops at the end of each day, and adjust blinds to reduce heat from sunlight.
“Turn off your lights when leaving your workspace, including when you leave for the day,” he wrote.
“Turn off your computers/laptops at the end of each workday.
“If your workspace has windows, adjust the blinds to manage heat from sunlight.”
He also advised employees not to use space heaters, saying a single unit can cost the county up to $300 per year.
That advice may be true in winter.
It does little for schools facing a summer heatwave.
The same request was not made to energy-gobbling AI data centers, however.
Data Centers Drive Local Backlash
The warning captures why data centers are becoming a flashpoint across the country.
Communities are being told to sacrifice while Big Tech and artificial intelligence companies build massive facilities that devour electricity, water, and land.
Data centers require huge amounts of power to run servers around the clock.
They also need extensive cooling systems to keep machines from overheating.
That often means more pressure on local grids and more strain on water supplies.
The facilities can generate constant noise, require large tracts of land, and leave nearby residents dealing with higher bills.
Studies have shown that people living near data centers are seeing their electricity costs rise.
404 Media reported the case of one woman who used solar panels and a heat pump to keep energy costs down, only to see her electricity bill double anyway.
The message to ordinary residents is becoming impossible to miss.
Big Tech gets the power.
Families, schools, and taxpayers get the bill.
AI Boom Comes at Public’s Expense
Henrico County’s data center boom is part of a much larger national trend.
Artificial intelligence and cloud computing are driving explosive demand for server farms.
Those facilities are being built near communities that are rarely given a real say in whether they want to host them.
Local officials often promise jobs, investment, and economic development.
But the costs are becoming harder to ignore.
Electricity bills rise.
Land is cleared.
Water is consumed.
Noise increases.
The grid becomes more fragile.
Then, when costs jump, schools and government workers are told to turn off lights and shut down laptops.
That is the reality behind the AI revolution.
The elites building the digital future expect ordinary Americans to pay for the infrastructure.
Schools are asked to conserve power in a heatwave while data centers keep running.
Henrico County is now a warning sign.
The same communities being told that artificial intelligence will transform the world are discovering that the transformation begins with higher bills, strained grids, and public institutions being told to cut back.
Big Tech’s machines get priority.
Children, teachers, and taxpayers are told to make “slight adjustments.”
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