I am generally supportive of data centers because of the economic impact they will have on our state, county, and school system and the role they play in our national security.
Economic Impact #1: Revenue:
I was the lead champion of ensuring property tax revenue stays local and isn’t all sent to Charleston. When the House passed HB2014 and sent it to the Senate, all property tax money from a data center would have gone to the state. In the Senate, I am the one who worked to ensure money stays locally. Because of those efforts, the data center coming to Bedington will generate property taxes in excess of $10 million annually for our county and more than $20 million annually for our school system. In addition to what is kept locally, more than $26 million annually will go to the state for the purposes of personal income tax reduction, grid stabilization, road improvement, etc.
Economic Impact #2: Jobs:
In addition to the revenue generated from this data center, job creation can not be ignored. One project alone (Bedington) is expected to create more than 1,000 construction jobs for our local tradesmen. These are electricians, plumbers, carpenters, mechanics, etc. from right here in our community. Additionally, that project is expected to create 125 permanent jobs, with salaries estimated to be approximately $100,000. Good paying jobs, right here in WV, are vital to our state’s long-term success.
While I am supportive of data centers, I do believe we should continue to establish guardrails for these projects. These guardrails must include:
#1: Power generation:
I believe, like President Trump (1), that US-based data centers are the foundation of ensuring our economic and national security. However, West Virginians should never be footing the bill for the benefit of private companies. These data centers must always build or buy their own power supply to protect ratepayers. I am continuing work to ensure all data centers that come to WV are following the President’s guidance on this. Most big tech companies have already taken the federal ratepayer protection pledge, but we must ensure there is never a negative impact on our WV ratepayers.
Additionally, there is one very important distinction to make when it comes to West Virginia’s power rates: While many states must import their power (Virginia, for example, imports roughly 30% of their electricity). West Virginia is the exact opposite, exporting over 40% of its power. By bringing on large electric consumers, like data centers, the fixed costs will be spread over more ratepayers. This, combined with our state’s power generation, will prevent rates from increasing – and sometimes even lead to lower rates overall.
#2: Local fees:
I believe data centers should be responsible for paying all local fees – which is why I amended HB 5168 (2) in the 2026 legislative session to include language that clarifies ALL data centers must pay ALL county or municipal fees such as fire, EMS, etc. The Berkeley County fire fee for the Bedington Data Center alone is estimated to generate more than $98,000 for our county fire fighters.
#3: Water resources:
I believe we should have guarantees that a data center is not putting an inordinate burden on water supplies – which is why the State Senate amended (3) the rules regulating data centers (4) in this last legislative session to prohibit any data center from putting an inordinate burden on water access.
References:
https://www.whitehouse.gov/articles/2026/03/ratepayer-protection-pledge/
https://www.wvlegislature.gov/Bill_Text_HTML/2026_SESSIONS/RS/bills/hb5168%20sub1%20enr.pdf
https://www.wvlegislature.gov/Bill_Text_HTML/2026_SESSIONS/RS/bills/hb4983%20enr.pdf
https://apps.sos.wv.gov/adlaw/csr/readfile.aspx?DocId=58780&Format=PDF