Locals blast WV-approved data centers bill amid Tucker County development concerns

“It’s how the mafia operates,� Easton said in a phone interview.

HB 2014, which Morrisey hasn’t yet signed into law, would prohibit local jurisdiction over data centers and divert most of the property tax revenue they generate away from local taxing bodies, a move estimated to cost counties and school districts millions.

Once Morrisey signs HB 2014 into law, it will prohibit counties and municipalities from enforcing or adopting ordinances, rules or regulations that limit creation, development or operation of any certified microgrid district or high-impact data center project.

“You’ve got the government and an out-of-state business going to come into your town, they’re going to set up shop, they’re going to tell you you’ve got nothing to say about it, and then they’re going to take the money and run,� Easton said. “It’s exactly how the mafia operates. It’s that same business structure. And it’s outrageous.�

Easton lives some six or seven miles from what is expected to be a data center facility near the city of Thomas off U.S. 48, where local residents say it would upset their tourist economy that relies on scenic views of the Blackwater Canyon and valley landscape and be too close to a nearby middle school.

“That’s the worst place to put it in Tucker County,� Davis Mayor Al Tomson said of the planned facility during a meeting focused on it held Sunday at the Davis Volunteer Fire Hall that drew more than 200 people in person and another 100 virtually.

The plan surfaced through a pending, heavily redacted state air quality permit application filed in March by Purcellville, Virginia-based Fundamental Data LLC, which was authorized to do business in West Virginia in July 2024.

Tucker County Development Authority executive director Steve Leyh said at Sunday’s meeting the project “came out of the blue.�

“Usually, that doesn’t happen with real projects,� Leyh said.

Neither Fundamental Data nor a company representative listed on the air quality application responded to requests for comment.

But concerns about the potential for adverse environmental and economic impacts and the lack of local jurisdiction to mitigate them aren’t limited to Tucker County with HB 2014 poised to become law.

“Now that we have this bill passed, it’s clear that there’s going to be a blitz,� West Virginia Highlands Conservancy board member Tyler Cannon said at Sunday’s meeting. “There’s going to be a rapid pursuit of this sort of development here, anywhere that’s willing to take it, anywhere that’s willing to sell out the longevity of their communities for the sake of short-term gain and menial job prospects.�

Davis mayor: ‘Your local leaders are pretty upset’

HB 2014 would split property tax proceeds from high-impact data centers as follows:

• 50% in a fund for reducing personal income tax
• 30% to the county or counties where a data center is located
• 10% to all counties on a per capita basis
• 5% to the West Virginia Water Development Authority-administered Economic Enhancement Grant Fund, used for water and wastewater infrastructure but also economic development
• 5% to an Electric Grid Stabilization Fund HB 2014 would create to help maintain utility-owned coal and gas electric generation

“The fact that you know 70% of the money from each county would go to ÂÒÂ×ÄÚÉä is unsettling,â€� Easton said.

HB 2014 would have left no such revenue for counties until local government leaders, including Berkeley County Commissioner Eddie Gochenour, County Commissioners Association of West Virginia president Tammy Tincher, and Putnam County Development Authority executive director Morganne Tenney blasted the bill at a Senate Economic Development Committee meeting this month.

But ire among Tomson and other leaders in Tucker County toward HB 2014 persists. Tomson expressed hope of making HB 2014 more favorable for local governments Sunday — before it’s even been signed into law.

Tomson observed HB 2014 restricts municipal and county governments’ ability to address concerns about noise pollution or enforce local code.

“So right now, your local leaders are pretty upset about that provision,� Tomson said, “and we’re not alone.�

Morrisey hailed the Legislature’s passage of HB 2014 on the final day of the 2025 regular legislative session Saturday, predicting it would “dramatically increase West Virginia’s ability to play a major role in data economic development projects, improve our standard of living, and help reduce our income tax.�

“This is the economic development bill of the session,� Morrisey said in a statement Saturday night, “and I applaud the Legislature for acting on it.�

“[T]hat really demonstrates, unfortunately, how much ÂÒÂ×ÄÚÉä values local opinion,â€� Tomson said of HB 2014’s passage.

Air pollution concern

Fundamental Data’s permit application filed with the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection’s Division of Air Quality says the facility would have the potential to annually emit:

• 99.35 tons of nitrogen oxides, gases which contribute to smog
• 71.86 tons of particulate matter, pollutants that can pierce the lung and bloodstream
• 56.36 tons of carbon monoxide, which can reduce how much oxygen is transported in the bloodstream
• 43.93 tons of volatile organic compounds, which contribute to ozone and can cause cancer

Area resident Cory Chase listed potential air pollutant emissions at Sunday’s meeting before noting his daughter has environmentally induced asthma.

“I’m worried,� Chase said.

Operation startup is planned for 2027 or 2028 but subject to change depending on availability of equipment from manufacturers, according to the application.

The facility is planned to be powered by gas-fueled turbines equipped with heat recovery steam generators, but the turbines may need to use diesel as a backup fuel source during gas pipeline failures.

The facility would have three 10 million-gallon diesel storage tanks, and the application indicates there would be haul road activities and equipment leaks.

Fundamental Data has control of the site via a July 2024 purchase and sale agreement, per the application.

Tomson said at Sunday’s meeting the company representative listed in the permit application, Casey Chapman, told him those wary of the move were “overreacting� to what was “step one of a 100-step process.�

Chapman was invited to the meeting, according to Tomson. Chapman had been noncommittal about jobs at the site but was hoping to use West Virginia labor, Tomson said.

Tomson suggested Fundamental Data consider putting its planned facility by a Mettiki Coal mine, closer to the Mount Storm coal-fired plant in neighboring Grant County, where he said it would threaten the area’s tourism economy less and be further from the middle school.

Local concerns and consequences in Virginia

The planned facility is expected to locate near a creek that runs into the Blackwater Canyon, raising water pollution worries.

Easton said he fears negative water availability effects from the proposed facility.

Large data centers can consume 3-5 million gallons of water per day — roughly 5-8% of the total amount withdrawn for public water supply throughout West Virginia in 2023, according to DEP data.

Amid a statewide emergency declaration due to drought conditions last summer, Thomas’ town water supply was rendered unusable due to high levels of iron. The state Department of Transportation sent a tanker truck filled with non-potable water to Thomas for washing, flushing toilets and other nondrinking use.

Tomson raised noise and light pollution concerns that have bothered residents of communities where data centers have populated beyond West Virginia.

A Virginia state legislative staff report to Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin and the state’s General Assembly in December found data centers’ increased energy demand there would likely increase system costs for all customers, including non-data center customers.

The report noted that residents near data centers complained about noise they generated and that most of the economic benefits from the state’s world-leading data center industry come from the construction phase rather than ongoing operations.

The report also found that building enough infrastructure for even half of unconstrained data center demand has been difficult and that energy prices are likely to rise for all customers since it will be challenging to supply enough energy to keep pace with growing data center demand.

On Tuesday, just two days after the Davis meeting lamented a lack of local control, the Pittsylvania County, Virginia, Board of Supervisors denied a rezoning request by Balico LLC for data center development amid local concerns about potential environmental impacts.

“For smaller counties in our state, it’s hard,â€� Tucker County Commission President Michael Rosenau said at Sunday’s meeting, referring to their ability to influence legislation in ÂÒÂ×ÄÚÉä. “It’s just hard.â€�

‘It’s just not worth it’

A clearer picture of a future in Tucker County with Fundamental Data is hard to come by in the company’s air permit application, which has many redactions, especially regarding its configuration of combustion turbines.

“I have reviewed a lot of air pollution permits over the last 25 years and I’ve never seen an air quality permit as redacted as this one,� Jim Kotcon, chair of the West Virginia Chapter of the Sierra Club, said at Sunday’s meeting.

Tomson said he would try to secure a meeting with Morrisey and his economic development personnel “so that we can work together to figure out how we can all come to the table and figure out this issue.�

“But it’s not like we’re going to sit back here and do nothing,� Tomson said.

Easton, though, fears HB 2014 portends a future of data center projects “cropping up all over the state.�

“[T]hey’re seeing cash, and that’s all they’re seeing down there in the Legislature and in the Governor’s Mansion,� Easton said. “The cost, though, is not worth it. It’s just not worth it.�