RICHMOND, Va. — A day after the story of a Virginia man's frustrations with data center construction resonated with many online, an electrician is weighing in on how data centers have positively impacted him.
Josh Price said he remembers what it’s like to not have work. The Henrico-based electrician first started working in the industry during the 2015 mini recession.
"The union even had no work at the time, so it was non-union, and it was like, 'Did you already work 30 hours? Well, then go home," Price said.
Now, it’s the complete opposite. Price says that thanks to the AI boom, work for his International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local 666 Union, exploded.
"AI has definitely pushed, I think we all know, pushed the workload to probably times two or times four," Price said.
He says that means he doesn’t have to leave Virginia for good jobs because the data center boom has changed his life and the lives of his colleagues.
"It's made it so people can buy houses," he said. "It's made it so that people have, don't just have health insurance, but have good health insurance, and not just for themselves, but their family, and not just health insurance, but vision and dental."
Price visited the general assembly Tuesday to speak with legislators and Virginia’s Secretary of Labor about why he and other electricians believe they should be doing everything they can to ensure data center growth in the commonwealth continues.
While Price and his colleagues are benefiting from Virginia’s data center boom, Austin Newsome, who lives right across the street from an Amazon Web Services data center under construction in Louisa says the construction has upended his life and hurt his home’s value.
"All day, every day, you can just see the haze of the dust floating through the air, and it never stops. And the noise that comes out of this place 24 hours at night time is just a loud pitch, humming, buzzing noise all the time," Newsome said.
CBS 6 shared Newsome’s story on Monday, along with a video that Newsome said depicts disruptive overnight work at the Amazon web services data center on Jefferson Highway.
Price says he feels empathy for Newsome, but he believes the issues he’s experiencing will prove temporary.
"A lot of those concerns, as valid as they are, I think those are just things that stem from new construction, and once it's completed, many of those things, like the dust, won't be there," Price said.
While Newsome is urging Virginians to push back on future data centers, Price hopes Virginia will continue to be a leader in data center growth.
"It's brought dignity to so many people, and the dignity of hard work, of honest work," Price said.
CBS 6 is committed to sharing community voices on this important topic. Email your thoughts to the CBS 6 Newsroom.
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