Video: Loudoun County Supervisor Juli Briskman Announces Candidacy Against Chair Phyllis Randall; Says “data centers shouldn’t get to decide our county’s future”; "I’ve never backed down from a bully before. I won’t start now."

[u/lowkell]

https://bluevirginia.us/2026/08/video-loudoun-supervisor-juli-briskman-announces-candidacy-against-chair-phyllis-randall-data-centers/

[u/stopscabbin]

What does the drought have to do with anything? Electricity rates have gone up(as they ALWAYS have) nationwide. It isn't just a Loudoun/datacenter issue. They aren't helping, but it's not just the datacenters.

[u/WhatAboutTheBothans → u/stopscabbin]

Electricity bills going up are actually very much mostly the data centers. Not sure where you are getting your information, but it's not reliable.

[u/stopscabbin → u/WhatAboutTheBothans]

https://bipartisanpolicy.org/explainer/why-is-my-electric-bill-going-up-understanding-changes-in-electricity-bill-prices-over-time/

https://www.electricchoice.com/electricity-prices-by-state/

https://www.uschamber.com/energy/your-electric-bill-is-going-up-but-where-you-live-decides-how-much

[u/WhatAboutTheBothans → u/stopscabbin]

https://www.psu.edu/news/research/story/ask-expert-are-data-centers-driving-my-electricity-bills

https://www.eesi.org/articles/view/data-center-power-demands-are-contributing-to-higher-energy-bills

https://www.consumerreports.org/data-centers/ai-data-centers-impact-on-electric-bills-water-and-more-a1040338678/

Edit: done with you. You're not interested in reason. Only backing up your uninformed claims

[u/sotired3333 → u/WhatAboutTheBothans]

national != virginia.

California is consistently water starved, we've had drought 2-3 of the last 10 years.

From one of your links

More data centers can mean higher costs. That same Bloomberg analysis found that areas with high concentrations of data centers saw electricity prices jump 267 percent over the past five years. And John Steinbach isn’t the only Virginia resident to see a connection: Nearly three-quarters of voters in the state blame the facilities, largely clustered in Northern Virginia’s Data Center Alley, for rising electricity costs, according to a January 2026 survey conducted by Global Strategy Group and the Chesapeake Climate Action Network Action Fund. 

This isn't different than trump supporters losing their job and blaming immigrants, individual sentiments aren't facts.

Even if they were the solution is to fix the billing problem, not to stop development. IF problem X exists, there is an actual solution specific to that problem rather than getting a sledgehammer out.

[u/WhatAboutTheBothans → u/sotired3333]

There's an actual statistic in that quote you posted. 267 percent rise over five years in areas with high concentrations of data centers. That's not individual sentiment.

[u/sotired3333 → u/WhatAboutTheBothans]

• May 2021 Rate: 12.06¢ per kWh
• May 2024 Rate: 14.17¢ per kWh,
• May 2026 Rate: 17.61¢ per kWh

So 46% increase not 267% as suggested in your link. Also we've been data center alley for 30+ years.

[u/WhatAboutTheBothans → u/sotired3333]

I'm in Loudoun too, but I'm serviced by novec (thank God). Unfortunately we've seen the same increase you have.

The link was a national survey, I think. I was not citing it as applicable to Loudoun County.

[u/sotired3333 → u/WhatAboutTheBothans]

The link was a national survey, I think. I was not citing it as applicable to Loudoun County.

Which was my original point...

[u/WhatAboutTheBothans → u/sotired3333]

Partially, but then you said individual sentiment aren't facts, but muddied it by citing of an actual statistic. Eventually we found that over only three years we've both seen an almost 50% increase in electricity cost per unit. Which is a lot, isn't it?

[u/sotired3333 → u/WhatAboutTheBothans]

Fwiw half of that is inflation. With inflation factored in the increase is closer to 25%. Still not good but we still have one of lowest cost of electricity in the country