WINFIELD, W.Va. — The Putnam County Commission has officially adopted a resolution on proposed data centers in the region.
The resolution, crafted after citizen-formed group Putnam United presented a resolution of its own a month ago, aims to force data centers to be evaluated on more than their financial impacts alone. Google announced plans in March to build a data center in Buffalo, which has generated significant turnout and comments from residents in the county commission meetings to follow.
Before reading the resolution for voting, county commission president Andy Skidmore thanked Putnam United members who were in attendance at Tuesday’s meeting in Winfield.
“We appreciate how the group presented the information to us at our meeting a month ago,” Skidmore said. “We definitely took that into consideration and added our own research and thoughts on the process.”
Skidmore said the resolution was put together collaboratively among the three commissioners and county manager Tim Hanna.
“Our collaborative stance forward is that we feel that any developer of a hyperscale data center in Putnam County should follow the rules and regulations of the county ordinances and such as if House Bill 2014 didn’t exist,” Skidmore said.
House Bill 2014, otherwise known as the Power Generation and Consumption Act, was overwhelmingly passed by the legislature last year and deals with data center regulation. As residents have spoken out against data centers, county commissioners — including Skidmore — have stated that H.B. 2014 limited individual counties’ ability to control which businesses invest in the region.
Among the points in the resolution:
– The county will receive economic benefits but won’t sacrifice protecting communities, ratepayers, and its resources.
– Data center developers will pay their own way with funding “100 percent of water, sewer, and power upgrades” without those costs going to ratepayers.
– There will be protections for local water systems by conducting water-feasibility studies.
– “Sound-dampening enclosures” will be added to the community to offset the noise and light pollution that data centers can create.
Google has already announced its “first round” of investments in the Buffalo community. Skidmore said not only that, but the company is abiding by Putnam County’s rules and regulations.
“The one data center that has purchased land and is moving forward — Google — is doing that process currently,” Skidmore said. “They are going through our planning commission office and abiding by the county rules, ordinances, and regulations.”
The Putnam County Resolution on Hyperscale Data Centers as Skidmore read it Tuesday is as follows:
“Whereas Putnam County, West Virginia, seeks to capture the economic benefits of hyperscale data center development, while protecting public resources, community character, and local ratepayers.
Whereas Putnam County, West Virginia, expects full utility cost responsibility from the developer. The increased energy demand from the presence of hyperscale data centers could impact grid reliability and energy costs for all ratepayers. Therefore, developers should fund 100 percent of water, sewer, and power upgrades. They should adhere to the National Ratepayer Protection Pledge, securing dedicated power without shifting grid costs to residents.
And whereas Putnam County, West Virginia, expects water protection. Hyperscale data centers can consume immense amounts of water per day, depleting resources and risking contamination for other local users and native ecosystems. So, there should be mandatory developer-funded, water-feasibility studies, and West Virginia DEP, NPDES (National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System) compliance to protect local wells, and groundwater.
And whereas Putnam County, West Virginia, expects nuisance mitigation. The presence of a hyperscale data center could change a community with noise and light pollution. and reconstruction of the natural terrain during construction periods and thereafter. So, there should be sound-dampening enclosures, baffles for acoustic control, and fully shielded, dark sky lighting with landscape buffers.
Therefore, be it resolved that the position of the undersigned is that the presence of hyperscale data centers in West Virginia communities should be evaluated on more than financial impacts alone. And be it further resolved that the position of the undersigned is that the decisions about the presence of hyperscale data centers should have input from the communities in which they have been proposed, including how the tax dollars collected are allocated, and should benefit the county, where the data center is located.”