this post was submitted on 30 Jun 2026
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Henrico County is a major hub for data centers in Virginia. Its officials said it expects a 25% rise in electricity costs next year, and advised workers to close the blinds and turn off their computers to make up for it.

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[–] pdxfed@lemmy.world 79 points 21 hours ago (1 children)

California: 80% of water use is agricultural and industrial but who do they lean on in drought years? Jimmy fucking John and minute showers. Corporations will not budge without force so state goes after the soft target.

Same play here.

[–] jumjummy@lemmy.world 43 points 21 hours ago (2 children)

California also has the stupidest water rights with “use it or lose” it clauses that counters any incentives to become more efficient. A couple families control a ridiculous amount of water rights.

[–] Itizaj@lemmy.world 10 points 7 hours ago (1 children)

The problem is that data centers don't need water, they need cooling, and water is suitable for that because it's the cheapest. They could do the cooling in many other ways, but it costs money

[–] mig@lemmy.world 3 points 6 hours ago (1 children)

The other ways cost money, make noise, and consume more power.

[–] titanicx@lemmy.zip 3 points 4 hours ago (1 children)

You mean cost more money. It's not like water is free but it is very cheap to use. But those other ways to cool it cost quite a bit more electricity and aren't nearly as efficient.

[–] Itizaj@lemmy.world 1 points 3 hours ago

That's what I meant, sorry, english is not my native language, but yes, water is the cheapest of all solutions

[–] TrippingBalls@lemmy.world 2 points 7 hours ago

That's typically how the government operates as well. No incentive to use funding wisely and decrease spending