‘We Want Them’: Capito Supports Efforts To Build A Data Center

U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., said her office has been involved in an effort to bring a data center to Logan County.

The country is experiencing a boom in data centers, driven by artificial intelligence (AI).

Last week, state lawmakers spoke of convening a special session to pass an incentive package for a company interested in providing power for a data center in southern West Virginia.

The special session fell through. But in a call Thursday with statewide media, Capito said her office is involved in landing the project and is supporting the state-level efforts.

“We want them in West Virginia,” she said. “They are massive investments, billions of dollars of investments, and they’re going to be exceedingly necessary if we as a country are going to win the race to capitalize on AI and what it could do, but also to run these enormous companies.”

Another hangup for lawmakers may have been the source of the power for the data center.

Companies such as Google, Microsoft and Meta typically seek carbon-free power from renewables or nuclear to reach their corporate net-zero goals.

But southern West Virginia is coal country, and the state is a major gas producer. Capito said there may be a role for all of those resources.

“The appetite for power is going to be so huge,” she said. “Everyone’s going to win here.”

The U.S. Department of Energy forecasts a 15 percent to 20 percent increase in electricity demand with the rise in AI, new manufacturing and electrification of vehicles and buildings.

The Electric Power Research Institute estimates data centers alone could consume 9 percent of U.S. electricity in 2030, more than double what they consumed last year.

Capito will have a bigger role next year in shaping the policy around the growth in electricity demand as chair of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee.