# Caroline County, Virginia: Power, Data Centers and the Local Economy Home to Bowling Green Caroline County is one of the places the data center build-out is physically happening. The SAVRN Data Center Map lists 2 data centers in Caroline County. Construction employs 371, up 43.2% since 2019. Caroline County is home to Bowling Green. 1 project is on the Delay Watchlist, including Mt. Airy Planned Innovation, Research and Technology data center campus. Employers here counted 7,022 jobs in 2025, up 18.7% from 2019 (the 8th fastest growth of 133 Virginia counties). 2 data centers on the SAVRN Data Center Map +18.7% total jobs since 2019, now 7,022 892 MW of operating power plants, mostly natural gas ## Cities and towns in Caroline County Caroline County is home to Bowling Green. Bowling Green1,284 residents Port Royal220 residents Unincorporated communities (governed by the county): Lake Caroline, Lake Land'Or. Residents are 2025 Census estimates for the part of each city, town or township inside this county. Census publishes no annual estimate for unincorporated communities. ## What changed in Caroline County | Measure | Then | Now | Change | Rank in Virginia | |---|---|---|---|---| | Population (2020 → 2025) | 30,922 | 34,413 | ▲ 11.3% | 50th of 133 by size | | Total jobs (2019 → 2025) | 5,915 | 7,022 | ▲ 18.7% | 8th of 133 by growth | | Average annual pay (2019 → 2025) | $39,146 | $49,785 | ▲ 27.2% | — | | Construction jobs (2019 → 2025) | 259 | 371 | ▲ 43.2% | 13th of 83 by growth | | Electrical contractor jobs (2019 → 2025) | 12 | 14 | ▲ 16.7% | — | | Unemployment rate (2019 → August 2026) | 3.1% | 3.6% | ▲ 0.5pts | — | | Generating capacity added since 2019 | — | 0 MW | | — | | Generating capacity retired since 2019 | — | 0 MW | | — | Electrical contractors employ 14, up 16.7% since 2019 against up 33.4% statewide, at an average $47,335 a year. Its power plants have 892 MW of capacity, 100% of it natural gas. 34,413 people live here, up 11.3% since 2020. Unemployment was 3.6% in August 2026, against 3.1% in 2019. Virginia Electric & Power Co is the largest utility serving Caroline County, one of 2 with territory here. Its residential customers paid an average 14.09¢/kWh in 2024, below the 14.39¢ median for Virginia utilities. ## Who powers Caroline County ### Utilities with service territory in Caroline County | Utility | Ownership | Service | Residential customers (systemwide) | Residential price, 2024 | Commercial share of sales | |---|---|---|---|---|---| | Virginia Electric & Power Co | Investor Owned | Bundled | 2,383,548 | 14.09¢ | 63% | | Rappahannock Electric Coop | Cooperative | Bundled | 169,489 | 14.89¢ | 11% | Customer counts, prices and sales shares cover each utility's whole system in the state, not only this county. Commercial sales include data centers. ### Operating power plants | Technology | Capacity | Share | |---|---|---| | Natural gas | 892 MW | 100% | | Largest plants | Owner | Technology | MW | Since | |---|---|---|---|---| | Ladysmith | Virginia Electric & Power Co | Natural gas | 892 MW | 2001 | ## The Caroline County labor market | Industry (2025) | Jobs | Average pay | Concentration vs U.S. | |---|---|---|---| | All industries | 7,022 | $49,785 | 1.00 | | Construction | 371 | $63,769 | 1.00 | | Electrical contractors | 14 | $47,335 | 0.28 | Concentration is the BLS location quotient: 1.0 means the industry holds the same share of local jobs as it does nationally. Industry rows count private employers; cells BLS suppresses are left out. ## Data centers and local rules in Caroline County 2 data centers in Caroline County are on the SAVRN Data Center Map: [see them by city and operator](https://savrn.com/data-center-map/virginia#p-caroline-county-exact-location-not-published). ### Delay Watchlist | Project | Status | Cause | MW | |---|---|---|---| | Mt. Airy Planned Innovation, Research and Technology data center campus | withdrawn | zoning denialcommunity opposition | — | ## Caroline County and its neighbors Of the 7 counties that border Caroline County, Stafford County carries the most build-out activity: data centers, planned generation and operating plants combined. [[[[[[[ | County | Population | Jobs since 2019 | Operating MW | Planned MW | Data centers | Local measures | |---|---|---|---|---|---|---| | Caroline County | 34,413 | ▲ 18.7% | 892 MW | — | 2 | — | | Essex County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/virginia/essex-county) | 10,654 | ▼ 2.2% | 20 MW | — | — | — | | Hanover County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/virginia/hanover-county) | 116,423 | ▲ 5.7% | 1,343 MW | — | 1 | 1 | | King George County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/virginia/king-george-county) | 29,646 | ▲ 13.8% | 13 MW | — | — | — | | King William County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/virginia/king-william-county) | 19,617 | ▲ 6.8% | 131 MW | 75 MW | — | — | | King and Queen County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/virginia/king-and-queen-county) | 6,743 | ▲ 8.3% | 11 MW | — | — | — | | Spotsylvania County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/virginia/spotsylvania-county) | 155,388 | ▲ 5.7% | 500 MW | — | 3 | 1 | | Stafford County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/virginia/stafford-county) | 170,803 | ▲ 13.2% | 4 MW | 5 MW | 18 | 1 | ## More of Virginia [All Virginia countiesThe state power page and county mapOpen →](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/virginia)[Stafford County170,803 peopleOpen →](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/virginia/stafford-county)[Spotsylvania County155,388 peopleOpen →](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/virginia/spotsylvania-county)[Hanover County116,423 peopleOpen →](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/virginia/hanover-county)[King George County29,646 peopleOpen →](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/virginia/king-george-county)[King William County19,617 peopleOpen →](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/virginia/king-william-county) ## Caroline County, answered from the record ### Who provides electricity in Caroline County, Virginia? 2 utilities have service territory in Caroline County in the EIA-861 2024 report: Virginia Electric & Power Co, Rappahannock Electric Coop. The largest, Virginia Electric & Power Co, charged residential customers 14.09¢/kWh on average in 2024. ### What power plants are in Caroline County? 1 operating plant with 892 MW of capacity. The largest is Ladysmith (892 MW, natural gas). ### Are there data centers in Caroline County? Yes. The SAVRN Data Center Map lists 2 data centers in Caroline County. ### Is Caroline County adding jobs? Employers counted 7,022 jobs in 2025 against 5,915 in 2019 (+18.7%, BLS QCEW). Construction went from 259 to 371. ### Does Caroline County have a data center moratorium? No county-level measure is on record for Caroline County. Virginia has 13 local measures statewide, listed on the state page. --- Canonical: https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/virginia/caroline-county Updated: 2026-10-08. Refreshed weekly by SAVRN from EIA, BLS, BEA, Census and the SAVRN trackers. License: CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).