# Wythe County, Virginia: Power, Data Centers and the Local Economy Home to Wytheville and Rural Retreat No data center or power plant project is on record in Wythe County, but the national build-out still reaches it through its utility bill, its labor market and the projects next door. Wythe County is home to Wytheville and Rural Retreat. Construction employs 324, down 22.7% since 2019. 95 MW of that came online in 2019 or later, mostly solar. Its power plants have 95 MW of capacity, 100% of it solar. Employers here counted 11,567 jobs in 2025, up 2.6% from 2019. 95 MW of operating power plants, mostly solar +2.6% total jobs since 2019, now 11,567 17.02¢ per kWh for Appalachian Power Co residential customers, 2024 ## Cities and towns in Wythe County Wythe County is home to Wytheville and Rural Retreat. Wytheville8,128 residents Rural Retreat1,521 residents Unincorporated communities (governed by the county): Austinville, Fort Chiswell, Ivanhoe, Max Meadows. 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 Wythe County | Measure | Then | Now | Change | Rank in Virginia | |---|---|---|---|---| | Population (2020 → 2025) | 28,324 | 27,983 | ▼ 1.2% | 68th of 133 by size | | Total jobs (2019 → 2025) | 11,275 | 11,567 | ▲ 2.6% | 58th of 133 by growth | | Average annual pay (2019 → 2025) | $35,701 | $48,165 | ▲ 34.9% | — | | Construction jobs (2019 → 2025) | 419 | 324 | ▼ 22.7% | 79th of 83 by growth | | Unemployment rate (2019 → August 2026) | 3.4% | 3.4% | ● 0.0pts | — | | Generating capacity added since 2019 | — | 95 MW | | — | | Generating capacity retired since 2019 | — | 0 MW | | — | Appalachian Power Co is the largest utility serving Wythe County. Its residential customers paid an average 17.02¢/kWh in 2024, above the 14.39¢ median for Virginia utilities. Unemployment was 3.4% in August 2026, against 3.4% in 2019. 27,983 people live here, down 1.2% since 2020. ## Who powers Wythe County ### Utilities with service territory in Wythe 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% | 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 | |---|---|---| | Solar | 95 MW | 100% | | Largest plants | Owner | Technology | MW | Since | |---|---|---|---|---| | Wythe County Solar | RWE Clean Energy | Solar | 75 MW | 2025 | | Caden Energix Wytheville LLC | Caden Energix Wytheville LLC | Solar | 20 MW | 2022 | ## The Wythe County labor market | Industry (2025) | Jobs | Average pay | Concentration vs U.S. | |---|---|---|---| | All industries | 11,567 | $48,165 | 1.00 | | Construction | 324 | $60,976 | 0.53 | 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 Wythe County No data center, local measure or delayed project is on record in Wythe County. Virginia has 13 local measures on record statewide. ## Wythe County and its neighbors Of the 5 counties that border Wythe 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 | |---|---|---|---|---|---|---| | Wythe County | 27,983 | ▲ 2.6% | 95 MW | — | — | — | | Bland County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/virginia/bland-county) | 6,151 | ▲ 7.0% | — | — | — | — | | Carroll County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/virginia/carroll-county) | 29,299 | ▼ 6.7% | 50 MW | — | — | — | | Grayson County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/virginia/grayson-county) | 15,230 | ▲ 1.2% | 5 MW | — | — | — | | Pulaski County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/virginia/pulaski-county) | 33,586 | ▼ 6.3% | 81 MW | 150 MW | — | — | | Smyth County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/virginia/smyth-county) | 28,882 | ▼ 7.5% | — | — | — | — | ## More of Virginia [All Virginia countiesThe state power page and county mapOpen →](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/virginia)[Pulaski County33,586 peopleOpen →](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/virginia/pulaski-county)[Carroll County29,299 peopleOpen →](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/virginia/carroll-county)[Smyth County28,882 peopleOpen →](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/virginia/smyth-county)[Grayson County15,230 peopleOpen →](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/virginia/grayson-county)[Bland County6,151 peopleOpen →](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/virginia/bland-county) ## Wythe County, answered from the record ### Who provides electricity in Wythe County, Virginia? 1 utility has service territory in Wythe County in the EIA-861 2024 report: Appalachian Power Co. The largest, Appalachian Power Co, charged residential customers 17.02¢/kWh on average in 2024. ### What power plants are in Wythe County? 2 operating plants with 95 MW of capacity. The largest is Wythe County Solar (75 MW, solar). ### Are there data centers in Wythe County? The SAVRN Data Center Map has no data center in Wythe County. ### Is Wythe County adding jobs? Employers counted 11,567 jobs in 2025 against 11,275 in 2019 (+2.6%, BLS QCEW). Construction went from 419 to 324. ### Does Wythe County have a data center moratorium? No county-level measure is on record for Wythe County. Virginia has 13 local measures statewide, listed on the state page. --- Canonical: https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/virginia/wythe-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/).