Shiny Chandravel, Assistant Opinions Editor
When I think back on high school, I remember flooding the football bleachers with my friends. I remember the sweat that would smudge our face paint as we cheered and screamed different chants. Most of all, I remember squinting across the brightly lit field to see the scoreboard light up after a game-winning touchdown.
I remember turning the lights on in the locker room at the break of dawn before track practice.
I remember helping my theater friends test each stage light and spotlight before their opening night show.
These are the memories I made across my 12 years studying at Henrico County Public Schools. Each of these moments were made possible by a school system capable of affording its electric bill and utilities.
I hope that the students of today and the students of the future will experience that as well.
But, that same hope held by citizens of Henrico and the surrounding Greater Richmond Region has dimmed over this summer.
Henrico County has become one of many areas across the state and country involved in a torrid affair with AI data center companies such as Meta and QTS. As of today, Henrico County leaders have opened their arms to 37 AI data centers, clustered in White Oak Technology Park in Eastern Varina, with 17 more proposals ahead.
Like most things, these centers come with a cost. This summer, Henrico citizens realized who would be paying: themselves.
On June 26, County Manager John Vithoulkas emailed employees of Henrico County Public Schools asking them to turn off lights, unplug chargers and think again before turning their space heater on. The message reasoned that these efforts were necessary as energy costs were set to rise 25% as of July 1, adding around a $5 million burden to the school district and the local government’s electric bill. He added that additional increases would soon follow.
This significant rise in utility costs coincides with inflationary pressures created by the extreme consumption and demand for energy from newly erected AI data centers. Monitoring Analytics, an independent market monitor, estimated that data centers accounted for an increase of $11.26 per megawatt-hour across the first five months of this year.
This email was framed as a small matter — a little action that Henrico citizens can take to help a greater cause.
But at what point will our government decide that AI data centers have forced us to adjust too much? If we have accepted a $5 million increase, what amount will be too much? Will Henrico just keep opening its arms to more AI data centers in the meantime until the damage is irreversible?
The strain of data center-driven inflation has compromised not only future feasibility, but future sustainability.
AI data centers are known for heavily consuming groundwater resources. A recent Virginian environmental study urged for stricter regulations. A Houston study estimated that the centers in Texas will use as much as 399 billion gallons in 2030. These centers are also affecting the quality of the air we breathe, emitting large amounts of diesel fumes.
In a world where we are asked to embrace AI as our future, I mourn the future we may be giving up in exchange.
We have been told these prices are just the growing pains of a greater society. At what point do those growing pains actually hold the next generations back?
We do not have to let these concerns and fears go unanswered.
The Board of Supervisors of Henrico must vote to approve any Provisional Use Permits for every new data center in the county. Board meetings are the 2nd and 4th Tuesday of every month at 4301 E. Parham Rd, where anyone can come and voice their concerns. Complaints and concerns can also be sent online through bra151@henrico.gov.
I am so privileged and blessed to have grown in Henrico County Public Schools. It is home to many of the great mentors that have cultivated me into the person I am today.
The least I can do is protect it in return. Because if we do not protect our own neighborhoods, then who will?
Governor Abigail Spanberger is from Henrico herself, with children who still attend its school system today. In June, she signed legislation to protect Virginian ratepayers from shouldering the costs of the new infrastructure these data centers demand. However, we can urge her to do more.
She needs to pass a moratorium on the data centers.
A moratorium would legally pause all AI data center permits until better infrastructure can be put into place to prevent burdening our communities with drastic energy costs and environmental damage.
AI data centers should not be built in places unequipped to handle their detrimental effects. Asking Henrico County Public Schools to adjust to these higher costs is not merely “just the start.” It’s already too far.
AI is not our future — our children are.
Now it is our turn to ensure the next generations are not left in the dark.