Electricity bills are rising across Virginia—and for many residents, it’s unclear why. WMRA’s Anjoleigh Schindler reports.
When Avary Smith opened her latest electric bill, she was shocked.
AVARY SMITH: Two hundred thirty something, $239, I think.
Smith lives alone in a one-bedroom apartment in Lynchburg—and gets her electricity from Appalachian Power, which serves about 1.1 million customers across Virginia, West Virginia, and Tennessee.
She says she barely uses electricity.
SMITH: I’m not gonna lie. I literally don’t turn on any lights … and I’m very conscious about turning all the lights off when I go to bed or when I leave my apartment.
Just a year ago, she says her bill was closer to a hundred dollars—even when she was living with someone else.
SMITH: From living with someone to now living alone is insane, the price difference.
Across Virginia, many residents are reporting similar increases—whether they’re served by Appalachian Power or Dominion Energy, which provides electricity to most of the rest of the state.
A recent report from Clean Virginia found monthly electricity bills have risen more than 65 percent since 2007—outpacing inflation.
So what’s driving the spike?
One major pressure point is demand.
After more than a decade of relatively flat electricity use, experts say demand is rising again—driven by things like electric vehicles, new technology, and especially large data centers powering artificial intelligence.
That growth is putting new strain on a grid that wasn’t built for it. But state regulators say there’s no clear evidence—yet—that data centers are directly raising residential bills.
Instead, regulators with the Virginia State Corporation Commission, or SCC, point to a mix of other factors driving up costs—like higher fuel prices, rising labor and infrastructure expenses, and increased demand during extreme weather, such as January’s Arctic airmass and ice storm. They say standard rate increases and the cost of maintaining and upgrading the grid are also pushing bills higher.
However, Greg Weatherford with the SCC says that bill increases due to data centers —
GREG WEATHERFORD: If it isn’t happening now, it’s very likely to happen soon.
He says the state is trying to get ahead of the problem.
The Virginia State Corporation Commission is the agency that regulates utilities and approves electricity rates in the state. Last November, the commission approved rate increases they estimate will raise the average residential customer’s monthly bill by about $11 for Dominion customers and $4 for Appalachian customers.
Regulators also approved what’s called the GS-5 “high-load” tariff—a new pricing system for massive energy users like data centers.
Under the policy, companies must commit to long-term contracts, pay upfront for infrastructure tied to them, and cover most of the grid costs—even if they don’t use all the newly generated and distributed power.
The goal is to prevent a worst-case scenario where utilities build out the grid for large customers, and everyday ratepayers are left covering the bill.
Still, even with those protections, electricity prices are rising—and not just because of demand.
Robinson Meyer, the founding executive editor of climate news outlet Heatmap, wrote in a recent New York Times opinion piece that wholesale electricity prices are going up. He says a growing share of your bill now goes toward maintaining and expanding the grid itself— components like transmission lines, substations, and other aging infrastructure. Much of the grid is decades old and needs to be repaired or replaced, and extreme storms can necessitate rebuilding entire parts of it.
And in some cases, higher fuel prices—especially natural gas—are pushing up the cost of generating electricity in the first place.
Utility bills aren’t just based on how much power you use. They’re made up of several components—including generation, transmission, and delivery charges—plus additional fees for grid upgrades and infrastructure projects.
So even if you use less electricity, you can still pay more—because much of your bill is tied to maintaining and expanding the grid.
Utilities like Appalachian Power maintain tens of thousands of miles of power lines—and say the average residential customer in Virginia pays about 17 cents per kilowatt-hour.
For Smith, the disconnect between using less electricity and paying more is hard to understand.
SMITH: I have been so angry and confused.
She says she’s already tried cutting back even further.
SMITH: I always thought I was very conscious about turning off lights and everything and not using a ton of electricity anyway. But then once I got a super high bill, I was like ‘Oh, let me try to cut down even more and only turn on the lights once it gets dark outside.’ But even then my bill is still going up.
And she’s left with questions many Virginians are now asking:
SMITH: And I just wanna know … What am I doing wrong? If I am doing something wrong.
Regulators with the SCC say the answer may be: nothing.
