WINFIELD, W.Va. — Putnam County residents and commissioners took on the polarizing topic of data centers during Tuesday evening’s meeting.
Google announced in March its plans to develop a data center in Buffalo. Ever since, many residents have brought forth concerns to the commission, wondering about the health impacts of the facility and whether it would actually benefit the local economy. Hordes of Putnam County residents packed the county courthouse once again on Tuesday night.
A resident-formed group called Putnam United created a resolution to present to the commission, asking for data centers to be evaluated on more than only their financial impacts.
Google announced its “first wave” of investments in the Buffalo community earlier this month, providing funding to local schools, the volunteer fire department, and the Buffalo Senior Center. The company worked with the Putnam County Development Authority to determine which spots would receive the investments. Additionally, Google has created a website, in what officials say is an effort for transparency about the project.
Residents talked to the commissioners for well over three hours.
Putnam United lead point-of-contact and organizer Jessica Lacy, a third-year law student at Penn State University Dickinson, outlined the importance of the resolution.
“At its core, this resolution is about something very simple: the people of Putnam County having a meaningful voice in the decisions that affect the future of this county,” Lacy said.
Last month, the Putnam County Commission reported that Google wants to hold a town hall-style discussion with the community. No date has been set for that meeting yet.
Above all, Lacy said, maintaining civility during the commission meeting was paramount.
“We did not invite people here to attack this commission,” Lacy said. “We did not invite them here to make your jobs harder. We certainly did not invite them to create hostility between the citizens and their elected officials. We invited them here because this is their government.”
Resident Joseph DeGroff was one of many who raised concern about health impacts. He also questioned what the data centers would do to customer costs.
“We can all agree that these things have the footprint of a small city,” DeGroff said. “That’s not in debate; that’s just a simple fact. Look at the size of them. The increased energy demand from the hyperscale data centers could impact grid reliability and energy costs for all ratepayers while increasing CO2 emissions.”
Putnam County Commission President Andy Skidmore credited the residents for their intentional approach.
“I appreciate the approach, and I can appreciate the time and effort put in,” Skidmore said. “I can tell this wasn’t just thrown together. There has been deliberation and discussion on that, and your approach this evening is appreciated by the commission.”
The ever-controversial Flock cameras were brought into the discussion by several residents. Jeanette Deniminico accused Flock cameras of needing massive amounts of storage space — which is where data centers come in.
“That’s why there’s this land-grabbing thing happening in the United States,” Deniminico said. “This is just crazy, what’s happening. We have just woken up in the ‘Twilight Zone’ and everybody better realize, these things don’t bring anything good to our communities.”
Many residents called for the county commission to take action during the meeting to oppose the data centers. This wasn’t the first time that Skidmore and the other commissioners heard such calls. Skidmore commended the care that the residents shown; but emphasized that House Bill 2014 stripped the power away from individual counties.
“I think, if you guys take this passion to the legislature, maybe we can have an impact,” Skidmore said.
“Do you all have the authority to address our problems, or do we have to go to Charleston to do that?” a resident asked.
“We don’t,” Skidmore affirmed. “You have to go to Charleston.”