Mason County Commission President Rick Handley is not against data centers.
In Point Pleasant, construction is already underway on Nscale’s Monarch data center. Handley said he appreciates that they give money back to the community and partner with schools to give job training.
But, he said, county officials have no control over when and where these data centers are coming.
“They can come into your county,” he said. “They can put them where they want to. They can put as many as they want to. And we can’t do anything.”
Gov. Patrick Morrisey last month unveiled a plan for data center development in West Virginia that makes collaboration with local communities a pillar of the process. But key parts of the plan aren’t backed up by law, and the state is moving forward on projects as communities are left without a voice.
Morrisey’s 20-year plan for the state’s data center development welcomes data centers to West Virginia while prioritizing tax redistribution, limiting electricity rates, and promoting effective water usage. The plan also outlines strategies to involve and protect local communities in the process.
The governor announced the plan at a press conference last month amid growing pushback in communities across the state to data centers. Opponents from Mingo to Berkeley counties have criticized the state’s law that stripped local communities of oversight, control and tax revenues.
That legislation, passed last year, serves as a basis for some of the plan’s principles. But some of the plan’s strategies, for example how water and power are used, aren’t backed up by law.
And some principles — like giving local communities a voice — haven’t stopped the state from racing forward with projects while keeping local communities in the dark.
Communities left out of decision-making
The plan details that after a potential project is identified, the Department of Commerce will “engage directly with local leadership to align private sector investments with municipal needs.”
Just three weeks after Morrisey made it a pillar of his data center development plan to give local communities a voice, he announced high-impact certifications for Nscale and a new $12-billion project from Starwood Digital Ventures in Mason County.
But Handley said Mason County didn’t learn from the state when these data centers are coming. Instead, they often learn about new projects when locals start selling their homes.
“The lack of communication has really bothered county commissioners throughout the state,” he said.
Elaine Matheny is a member of Mason County United, a group of locals who have organized in opposition to data centers in the county.
“I’m frustrated and discouraged and angry that all this can be done without anyone in the public knowing about it,” Matheny said.
In Tucker County, locals created Tucker United to oppose a proposed data center and power plant near Thomas and Davis.
Amy Margolies, executive director of Tucker United, worries that local communities will remain uninvolved in the data center approval process.
“One of the principles is: West Virginia must protect and grow our communities. How can we do that if we’re completely removed from the process?” she said. “We have no vote. We have no decision in the projects that are put into our communities.”
A Data Center Advisory Council
Morrisey’s administration plans to create a Data Center Advisory Council composed of experts from local government, academia, and conservation and industry groups who will give recommendations on where and how data centers should be developed.
The council will hold meetings to discuss and recommend standards for noise mitigation, aesthetics and site security. It will also make recommendations on how far developments will be from property lines, neighborhoods, schools and houses of worship, but the plan does not include a timeline for the council’s formation and recommendations, or information on how it will interact with local communities.
In the meantime, the state has certified multiple data centers, including in Mason county, where Nscale’s data center site encroaches on a residential neighborhood and has repeatedly flooded homes.
The council will provide input on long-term planning and future recommendations, said Lars Dalseide, a spokesperson for the governor.
“We will always evaluate the Council’s recommendations,” Dalseide said. “And if a good recommendation requires changes to state law or legislative rules, we will work with the Legislature through the appropriate process.”
Key parts of the plan aren’t backed up by law
During his August press conference, Morrisey, flanked by Commerce Department employees and legislative leadership, said that the principles reflect how existing laws already, including House Bill 2014, will be enforced.
“It doesn’t require additional changes to the law,” Morrisey said.
Morrisey pointed to his signing of President Donald Trump’s Ratepayer Protection Pledge as an example of enforcement.
The data center plan aims to keep West Virginians’ energy prices low by making data centers fund themselves, following the standards set in the pledge.
Dalseide said that Commerce has required companies who want the high-impact designation to comply with the pledge.
But while “several” parts of the plan are grounded in existing law, Dalseide said, other parts, including principles related to how water and power are used, are “policy and planning initiatives.”
“Where those initiatives require additional legal authority, they would go through the Legislature or appropriate rulemaking process.”
Del. Evan Hansen, D-Monongalia, who sits on the Joint Committee on Energy and Public Works, said the plan is “a step in the right direction, but my concern is that it’s just a plan and nothing has the force of law.”
Ann Ali, spokesperson for Speaker of the House Roger Hanshaw, R-Clay, said Hanshaw would take recommendations from the advisory council into the legislative process.
“If additional legislation and/or rulemaking processes are necessary, Speaker Hanshaw would take the usual and customary steps of House leadership for that to happen prudently through the legislative process,” Ali said.
Senate President Randy Smith did not respond to a request for comment.
Margolies, of Tucker United, said the state needs clear, strong guidelines to protect the state and its residents.
Otherwise, “we’re going to get taken advantage of,” Margolies said. “Not just our small communities, but the state itself.”