They Sent Him a $281 Bill for Someone Else’s Electricity

Last winter, a retired man in Manassas, Virginia opened his electric bill and assumed it was a mistake. The month before, he’d paid around $100. This one said $281, a 181% increase.

“It’s just so far beyond any bill that I’ve ever had,” he said, according to a Consumer Reports story. He’s lived in the same home for nearly 40 years.

His habits didn’t change. The world around him did. And suddenly, he found himself living on the wrong side of the meter.

Across the state of Virginia, 285 million square feet of data center warehouses are either approved or in the process of seeking approval, according to Julie Bolthouse, director of land use at the Piedmont Environmental Council.

That is the equivalent of around 1,500 Walmart supercenters. It’s no wonder the strain has shown up on this retired man’s power bill.

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