Plan for Data Center Near Davis and Thomas Raises Alarms
Secretive Virginia company seeks permit for a huge off-the-grid power plant to run its facility
A secretive Virginia company wants to build an enormous self-contained power plant on about 300 acres of land between Davis and Thomas for what appears to be a data center.
The plans call for the power plant to run on natural gas, with 30 million gallons of diesel fuel stored on site as a backup fuel source. Local officials and environmental groups expressed concerns about the potential for significant air, water, and light pollution.
The facility “will not sell electricity to grid,” the company states in a permit application filed with the air quality division of the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection, meaning that all the electricity would be used on-site.
The application was filed by Fundamental Data, which lists a suite in Purcellville, Virginia as its office. The company’s public website contains no information other than the company’s name and a 2024 copyright notice.
Davis mayor “shocked”
The permit application was filed on March 18. Several local officials contacted by Country Roads News on Wednesday said they first learned of the project within the past 24 hours.
“I’m shocked that I was not aware of this,” said Davis Mayor Al Tomson. He said he quickly called other local politicians, who also said they didn’t know about the proposal.
“This has all been worked in Charleston without any local involvement or input,” said Tomson, who added that he’s alarmed about the impact of such a facility on the area.
“I am concerned about the location of the plant and its proximity to residents in Davis as well as Thomas,” Tomson said. “I’m also concerned with the emissions that this plant will potentially produce, some of which will not be regulated.”
Tucker County Commissioner Fred Davis and Thomas Mayor Jody Flanagan said they didn’t know enough about the project yet to comment. “I didn’t know anything about it until Al (Tomson) gave me a call at 4 o’clock yesterday,” Flanagan said.
One local politician contacted by Country Roads News expressed support for the proposal.
“I just found out about it just this morning,” said Tucker County Commission President Mike Rosenau. “I don't know any details. I'm excited to think we have the possibility of getting a facility in our county that you can make a sustainable living at.”
Fuel storage tanks
According to the permit application:
· The facility would include three 10-million-gallon diesel fuel storage tanks, each 66 feet tall and 180 feet in diameter. The tanks would be used as a backup source of energy to run the power plant, which would run continuously.
· The facility is expected to begin operations in 2027 or 2028
· The entire perimeter of the facility would be enclosed by a security fence.
· Leaks from pumps, compressors, valves, or other sources are expected.
Portions of the permit application are heavily redacted. For example, the specifications for the power plant’s turbines are redacted “due to being confidential business information.”
Marilyn Shoenfeld, president of the West Virginia Highlands Conservancy, said she believes backers of the project have intentionally tried to keep it quiet.
“I do think this has been kept under the radar,” Shoenfeld said. “Judging from the level of detail in their permit application, they’ve spent a lot of money and a lot of time developing this plan, without any input from local people.”
The facility would be in the path of the “Go North” alternative route for the extension of Corridor H, Shoenfeld said. That route is favored by local environmental groups.
The power plant at the data center would generate about the same amount of electricity as the nearby Mount Storm Power Station, the West Virginia Highlands Conservancy said.
“A hundred steps”
The parcel of land in question is adjacent to the Tucker County landfill, said Casey Chapman of Fundamental Data. Chapman, who is listed as the “responsible official” in Fundamental Data’s permit application, declined to provide a more specific title or describe his role with the company.
Chapman also declined to say whether the facility will be a data center.
“I can’t speak to it. It’s a conceptualized site for power generation,” Chapman said.
When asked about the nature of Fundamental Data’s business, he hesitated: “Well, uh, it’s essentially power development. That would summarize the business of Fundamental Data.”
When asked what the power would be used for, he replied, “to be determined.”
Chapman said that if the project proceeds, “there would be job creation.” He said it was “premature” to say how many jobs might be created because the fate of the project is uncertain.
Chapman said the location — adjacent to the landfill — makes sense because it’s an undesirable location for a residential neighborhood. He added that methane leaking from the landfill might be usable as a supplemental fuel source for the facility.
Chapman said local officials haven’t been consulted yet because the project is in its infancy. “There’s a hundred steps in the process,” he said. “This would be step one.”
He added, “It’s way too early to engage the local jurisdictions.”
Chapman said there was no effort to keep the project secret. He noted that the permit application is a public document.
Additionally, notice of the permit application was published in the local newspaper of record. However, such notifications are vague. The public notice of the Tucker County proposal, dubbed the “Ridgeline Facility,” included a list of potential pollutants that could be discharged but offered no description of what the facility would do and made no mention of a power plant or data center.
Data Booster
Data centers contain huge banks of powerful computers that can be used to store digital information, mine cryptocurrency, and perform other computer-based operations. They typically require large amounts of electricity.
West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrisey is a big booster of data centers and has championed legislation designed to speed their construction in the state.
The West Virginia House of Delegates on Tuesday passed a bill, 88-12, that would allow companies to build their own sources of energy for data centers.
Morgan King, climate and energy program manager for the West Virginia Citizen Action Group, said the bill would largely exempt data centers from local zoning ordinances and other local efforts to control their impact.
The bill awaits action in the state Senate.
“This bill kind of came out of nowhere, and we’re not certain how quickly it will move in the Senate, but given how quickly it moved in the House, I wouldn’t be surprised if it moves quickly in Senate,” King said.
She added that the bill would allow data centers to generate significant amounts of pollution. She also said the bill would exempt data centers from any limits on water usage.
“Some of these data facilities use more than a million gallons a day,” she said.
Legislative action
John Paul Hott, a Republican who represents Tucker County in the West Virginia House of Delegates, voted for the bill. Republican Senate President Randy Smith, who also represents Tucker County in the West Virginia statehouse, recently joined the governor in a public show of support for attracting data centers to the state.
Country Roads News left a message for Smith seeking comment about the legislation and the proposed facility in Tucker County.
In a telephone interview, Hott said he is “optimistic and encouraged” about the legislation and the prospects for a data center in Tucker County. Similar facilities typically create about 100 permanent full-time jobs, plus ancillary work for people like HVAC technicians to help out as needed, Hott said.
“We need to provide employment that allows people to live here, work here, and raise a family here,” Hott said.
West Virginia has been sending some of the energy it produces to data centers in Virginia and other states, so it makes sense to use locally produced energy to create jobs closer to home, Hott said.
A 2017 report by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce says that a typical “large” data center employs 157 people after construction is complete. A Microsoft publication says data centers employ “about 50 full-time employees and vendors.”
Western Pocahontas Land?
Fundamental Data obtained the rights to the property through a “purchase and sale agreement signed by both the seller and purchaser” and executed on July 19, 2024, the permit application states. The seller is not listed.
However, Country Roads News could not find any record of a land sale to Fundamental Data.
The proposed site for the facility appears to be on land that is owned, or was owned, by Western Pocahontas Properties, according to state property records.
Representatives for Western Pocahontas, the largest private landholder in the region, made public presentations in October in Davis and Thomas about its long-term plans for development in the area. They made no mention of the data center, and maps presented by Western Pocahontas at the meeting don’t show a power plant or a data facility.
Western Pocahontas Vice President Rich Flanigan and Roy Bechtol, president of a land planning firm hired by Western Pocahontas Properties, who led the October presentations, did not return calls and an email seeking comment for this story.
(Mat Cloak contributed to this story.)
Keep digging Dan. Sounds shady.
Per a LinkedIn profile I found under the same name as the filer (Casey), he also is an “owner” of CaseCo which happens to have the same address as Fundamental
https://caseco.net/about/