# Giles County, Virginia: Power, Data Centers and the Local Economy Home to Pearisburg, Narrows and Pembroke The data center boom is not abstract in Giles County: it is on the ground here. The SAVRN Data Center Map lists 1 data center in Giles County. Giles County is home to Pearisburg, Narrows, Pembroke and Rich Creek. Employers here counted 5,245 jobs in 2025, up 16.1% from 2019. Its power plants have 27 MW of capacity, 100% of it natural gas. Appalachian Power Co is the largest utility serving Giles County, one of 2 with territory here. Its residential customers paid an average 17.02¢/kWh in 2024, above the 14.39¢ median for Virginia utilities. 1 data centers on the SAVRN Data Center Map +16.1% total jobs since 2019, now 5,245 27 MW of operating power plants, mostly natural gas ## Cities and towns in Giles County Giles County is home to Pearisburg, Narrows, Pembroke and Rich Creek. Pearisburg2,873 residents Narrows2,036 residents Pembroke1,139 residents Rich Creek738 residents Glen Lyn92 residents Unincorporated communities (governed by the county): Eggleston, Ripplemead. 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 Giles County | Measure | Then | Now | Change | Rank in Virginia | |---|---|---|---|---| | Population (2020 → 2025) | 16,786 | 16,564 | ▼ 1.3% | 90th of 133 by size | | Total jobs (2019 → 2025) | 4,517 | 5,245 | ▲ 16.1% | 12th of 133 by growth | | Average annual pay (2019 → 2025) | $41,264 | $54,487 | ▲ 32.0% | — | | Unemployment rate (2019 → August 2026) | 3.3% | 3.6% | ▲ 0.3pts | — | | Generating capacity added since 2019 | — | 0 MW | | — | | Generating capacity retired since 2019 | — | 0 MW | | — | Unemployment was 3.6% in August 2026, against 3.3% in 2019. 16,564 people live here, down 1.3% since 2020. ## Who powers Giles County ### Utilities with service territory in Giles County | Utility | Ownership | Service | Residential customers (systemwide) | Residential price, 2024 | Commercial share of sales | |---|---|---|---|---|---| | Appalachian Power Co | Investor Owned | Bundled | 465,283 | 17.02¢ | 26% | | Craig-Botetourt Electric Coop | — | — | — | — | — | 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 | 27 MW | 100% | | Largest plants | Owner | Technology | MW | Since | |---|---|---|---|---| | Celanese Acetate LLC | Celanese Acetate LLC | Natural gas | 27 MW | 1942 | ## The Giles County labor market | Industry (2025) | Jobs | Average pay | Concentration vs U.S. | |---|---|---|---| | All industries | 5,245 | $54,487 | 1.00 | 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 Giles County 1 data center in Giles County is on the SAVRN Data Center Map. ## Giles County and its neighbors Of the 7 counties that border Giles County, Pulaski 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 | |---|---|---|---|---|---|---| | Giles County | 16,564 | ▲ 16.1% | 27 MW | — | 1 | — | | Bland County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/virginia/bland-county) | 6,151 | ▲ 7.0% | — | — | — | — | | Craig County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/virginia/craig-county) | 4,800 | ▲ 3.4% | — | — | 1 | — | | Mercer County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/west-virginia/mercer-county) WV | 57,503 | ▲ 4.5% | — | — | — | — | | Monroe County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/west-virginia/monroe-county) WV | 12,491 | ▼ 2.0% | — | — | — | — | | Montgomery County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/virginia/montgomery-county) | 98,434 | ▲ 4.0% | 24 MW | — | 2 | — | | Pulaski County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/virginia/pulaski-county) | 33,586 | ▼ 6.3% | 81 MW | 150 MW | — | — | | Summers County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/west-virginia/summers-county) WV | 11,532 | ▼ 0.4% | — | — | — | — | ## More of Virginia [All Virginia countiesThe state power page and county mapOpen →](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/virginia)[Montgomery County98,434 peopleOpen →](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/virginia/montgomery-county)[Pulaski County33,586 peopleOpen →](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/virginia/pulaski-county)[Bland County6,151 peopleOpen →](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/virginia/bland-county)[Craig County4,800 peopleOpen →](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/virginia/craig-county) ## Giles County, answered from the record ### Who provides electricity in Giles County, Virginia? 2 utilities have service territory in Giles County in the EIA-861 2024 report: Appalachian Power Co, Craig-Botetourt Electric Coop. The largest, Appalachian Power Co, charged residential customers 17.02¢/kWh on average in 2024. ### What power plants are in Giles County? 1 operating plant with 27 MW of capacity. The largest is Celanese Acetate LLC (27 MW, natural gas). ### Are there data centers in Giles County? Yes. The SAVRN Data Center Map lists 1 data center in Giles County. ### Is Giles County adding jobs? Employers counted 5,245 jobs in 2025 against 4,517 in 2019 (+16.1%, BLS QCEW). ### Does Giles County have a data center moratorium? No county-level measure is on record for Giles County. Virginia has 13 local measures statewide, listed on the state page. --- Canonical: https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/virginia/giles-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/).