Data centers' electricity needs pose a major challenge

Imagine a community with as many homes as there are in Richmond and Henrico County popping up in the woods 45 miles west of the city, and the electricity it would use.

That’s what just one of the region's latest data centers — EdgeCore Digital’s planned $17 billion, 3.9-million-square-foot facility in Louisa County — will need.

Data center developers are already drawing a lot of power. The 451 now running in Virginia, home to the largest concentration of data centers in the world, currently use 3,583 megawatts, or enough electricity to power nearly 896,000 homes. That is 12% more than in all of Northern Virginia, testimony before the State Corporation Commission shows. And with developers lining up still more projects, pressure is surging on a state grid that already must import power from places where it costs more.

In a Nov. 21 interview with the Richmond Times-Dispatch, Gov.-elect Abigail Spanberger touched on what she terms a coming energy crisis in Virginia.

"We're the largest net importer of energy in the country. That is not a good place for us to be," she said.

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