House Passes Bill To Let Data Centers Operate Microgrids

The West Virginia House of Delegates passed a bill today that would allow data centers to establish microgrids — self-contained sites that generate their own power.

Gov. Patrick Morrisey asked lawmakers to consider the policy last month.

Morrisey and other proponents of House Bill 2014 hope giving developers more control over their energy resources could attract more data centers – and new jobs – to the state. That includes Del. Clay Riley, R-Harrison.

“We’re looking for an opportunity to compete in West Virginia through an ever-changing landscape of technological innovation,” Riley said on the House floor Tuesday.

Data centers use large amounts of energy, and advocates say microgrids ensure a site can meet its energy demands without straining the grid residents, schools and businesses depend on.

But Del. Marty Gearheart, R-Mercer, worries the bill would mean data centers wouldn’t have to help shoulder energy costs, which could leave electricity rates just as high for residents.

“Should we enact this legislation and attract these data centers, we are not going to attract ratepayers that are able to spread the fixed costs,” he said during floor discussion Tuesday. “Now I don’t know — if we were to have data centers come here without these microgrids — whether it would lower your power bills. But it doesn’t appear like, with the microgrid, that there’s any opportunity for that.”

Despite the delegate’s concerns, a majority of members of the House gave the bill its stamp of approval. House Bill 2014 passed by a vote of 88 to 12, and now heads to the West Virginia Senate for further review.