Morrisey administration pitches data centers as funding source for water upgrades

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (WCHS) — During interims this week, a member of Gov. Patrick Morrisey’s administration told lawmakers that infrastructure and water quality could be improved with data centers.

“If we can cite data centers in the southern coalfields and get the tax revenue moving into the counties so that they can use tens of millions of dollars every year in additional revenue to upgrade their water, doing it through the 5% that the Legislature set aside for water infrastructure and dedicating that to the infrastructure in these small communities that don’t have the wherewithal to be able to fund the infrastructure themselves and operate it,” West Virginia’s Office of Energy Nicholas Preservati told lawmakers on Tueaday.

Concerns still remain, with some saying they don’t believe there are enough guardrails in place to ensure these facilities will be held accountable.

“We need a lot of support with those failing systems,” West Virginia Rivers Coalition Executive Director Jennie Smith said. “I will also say we don’t have enough information yet about how that revenue would be a key part in solving that. I think there has to be a lot put in place like transparent guardrails to make sure that if that money is generated, will it actually go to what it’s seeing it’s going to and really provide lasting sustainable change?”

Smith said the financial impact is not the only thing that needs to be looked at when it comes to high impact data centers.

“One of the things that I hope we are aware of is the cumulative impact on the community where that data center is being built,” she said. “We can’t look at revenue without accounting for the costs that that’s going to take to be able to have that revenue.”

Smith said she believes if the proper guardrails are implemented and if the data center companies are transparent, communities could benefit financially.

“With guardrails and transparency, that could be really helpful,” she said. “I also think the data centers that have been approved have a real chance to build partnerships with us to be transparent about where that water is coming from and the kind of systems that they’re going to use within their centers.”