Delegates Dive into Data Centers

Several West Virginia legislators and a representative from the state Division of Economic Development told the House of Delegates on Monday that they see great potential in the arrival of data centers in the state, and some said state residents would benefit from knowing more about the emerging industry.

The West Virginia group attended Data Center World, an industry-sponsored conference April 20-23 in Washington, D.C., that provided access to facility operators and energy, construction, government, investment, and analyst communities.

Data centers have been on state leaders’ agenda for some time. The Legislature overwhelmingly passed legislation in 2025 that, in part, encourages investment in data centers. House Bill 2014 said “data centers represent a significant and growing sector of the economy, generating substantial economic activity, including jobs, infrastructure investments, and technological innovation.”

Delegate Marty Gearheart of Mercer County, who led the discussion in the House chamber, said he sees advantages to the development of data centers and that the industry continues to address concerns about electricity supplies, effects on the power grid, noise pollution, and water use.

Delegate Tristan Leavitt of Kanawha County outlined what he called myths related to data center development. He said he learned the facilities would provide a significant number of attractive jobs after construction. In addition, he said, enhanced infrastructure would follow the data centers and serve communities where the data centers are situated.

Delegate Michael Hite of Berkeley County addressed tax implications stemming from the development, noting, for example, that he isn’t clear how the development will affect the state school-aid formula.

“As you can see, there’s probably some things we still need to work on regarding data centers legislative wise …,” Hite said. “So these aren’t minor details as it has to do with revenue. They’re fundamental policy questions, and they’re open to interpretation. These answers, or answers to these questions, may influence us to make adjustments in other areas of state code that have been affected unintentionally.”

Samantha Smith, manager of business and industrial development for the state, attended Data Center World and said West Virginia is gaining notice among data center developers. She said artificial intelligence (AI) continues to grow as an industry, and data centers, critical to AI’s future, require access to major power sources

Smith said lack of access to power is the biggest barrier to the development of data centers. Data center developers prefer access to the electric grid rather than on-site generation, although some see localized generation as a bridge to the grid, she said.

She said many data industry developers are focused on sustainability with power and water, and many are prioritizing the reduction of water use for cooling their facilities. In addition, some are discussing the use of nuclear energy, although that possibility has “a long runway,” she said.

Data centers offer employment opportunities for West Virginians, Smith said. The state’s four-year and community and technical colleges are prepared to train the emerging workforce to fulfill the employee needs of data centers, she said.

Some Delegates raised questions about whether data-center developers are providing local communities enough information about their projects and their effects. One Delegate responded that developers don’t always know the scope of their projects because they must await approval from state environmental agencies.

Another, Delegate Kathie Hess Crouse of Putnam County, said representatives of Google, one of the world’s largest technology companies, openly discussed their Putnam County project, which was announced in March.

“They mentioned several times during that conversation that they wanted to do town halls and everything else once they had more information under their belt, had a layout and everything for the building and how they were going to get the water in, what cooling and everything they’re going to use,” she said.