The 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: More data centers mean more electricity demand to run these energy-hogs — and that cost will likely be passed on to locals, according to a recent report from the state watchdog agency.

The big picture: There are 537 data centers statewide, with the vast majority concentrated in Northern Virginia.

• Richmond has the second-highest concentration of data centers in Virginia, which is known as the data center capital of the world, with 53 of them in the region, according to DataCenterMap.com.
• That includes Henrico, Powhatan and Chesterfield, which potentially has more in the works. So does Hanover.
• In Chesterfield and Henrico, 38% of data centers are within 500 feet of a residential area, and some residents, similar to those in NoVa, have started to fight against proposals to add more near their homes.

Zoom in: If unconstrained, the state's demand for power could double within the next 10 years, according to a report out late last year from the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission, the state's watchdog group.

• That increase in demand would likely end up costing Virginia residents, and Dominion Energy customers specifically, $14 to $37 more a month in their power bill by 2040.

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, which some, like Henrico, are using to help local residents by funding an affordable housing trust.

Keep reading for the legislature's attempts to regulate data centers