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Approval of departmental rules bundles often pass through the West Virginia Legislature unnoticed. But rules related to data centers garnered lots of attention over the past week.
After the approval of microgrids to power data centers last year, the House of Delegates advanced a bundle of administrative rules Tuesday.
House Bill 4983 is a Department of Commerce rules bundle which defines the process for data center site certification.
Del. Laura Kimble, R-Harrison, was one of the few from her party to vote against the bill and the only one to speak against it Tuesday.
She said despite more than a year of deliberation, her concerns have not been addressed.
“Last year, the rules process said we would address water and local control. And I didn’t hear that. I don’t see that in the rules bundle,” she said. “I believe in local control. I think that instead of local decisions being made about this, it will be with the centralized planning of the Department of Commerce, and I don’t approve of that.”
Residents near microgrid data center projects in Tucker County and Mingo County have expressed strong opposition. Earlier this month, community organizations lost an appeal to the state’s Air Quality Board to force the release of sealed information for the Ridgeline Facility between the towns of Thomas and Davis.
In Mingo County, citizens filed a federal lawsuit in December against TransGas Development Systems, the Huntington District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
House Bill 4983 passed 78 to 16 and now goes to the Senate for its consideration.
Rejected Amendments
The House of Delegates rejected two amendments Monday to require certified data center projects to address community concerns including water usage and public nuisance.
Del. Henry Dillon, R-Wayne, and Del. Chris Anders, R-Berkeley, presented a comprehensive amendment to limit data center usage of groundwater, as well as limit public costs related to maintenance and public nuisance.
Del. Evan Hansen, D-Monongalia, was joined by all of his Democratic Party colleagues in presenting a short and focused amendment to require water impact assessments prior to the operation of a data center. Current requirements are for operators to report usage periodically, a setup Hansen said allows operators to obfuscate the source of the water they use.
Both amendments were overwhelmingly rejected.