CHARLESTON, W.Va. — City Councilman Emmett Pepper plans to introduce an ordinance instituting guardrails to potential data center investments in the area.
Pepper will present the ordinance during Monday evening’s full council meeting. He said on MetroNews “Talkline” that as state laws currently exist, with House Bill 2014 passed by the legislature last year, “precludes” local control over data centers that are 90 megawatts or more.
“The goal here isn’t to say, ‘we’re going to stop all data centers from coming into Charleston,'” Pepper said. “It is to say, ‘if you’re going to come here, we need to do it in a way that’s going to be responsible, it’s going to benefit our community.”
Pepper defined three different tiers of data centers: major, standard, and micro. He said that “major” data centers are “bigger than most big-box stores.”
“Something along the lines of a Lowe’s or a Target,” Pepper explained. “How much power would that be? That’s going to be about equal to the amount of power that the entire city of Charleston residents use, and probably about the same amount as how much every industry and business in the city uses.”
He said that “standard” data centers are equivalent to a small grocery store or supermarket, a Kroger or a Piggly-Wiggly. Meanwhile, he said “micro” data centers are 1-to-5 megawatts, similar to a Cracker Barrel. While those centers are smaller, he noted that their impact is still significant. Pepper compared the “micro” data centers to all the houses in his East End neighborhood.
Pepper pointed out that the Putnam County Commission recently passed a resolution, stating that data center developers must comply with local rules and regulations, not just state limits. Pepper said this ordinance is a “little more detailed” than Putnam County’s resolution.
“Making sure they’re within a threshold of noise, especially during the nighttime when people are sleeping,” Pepper said. “Setbacks from schools, churches, and residences, so that they’re not too close, especially for those bigger ones.”
Pepper added that there are “community-benefits agreements” happening all across the country. He said that’s when data centers come in and work with communities to help fill needs. There is language in this ordinance to address that as well.
“Look at how we can make sure that there are going to be protections in place, things that will help people on their energy bills,” Pepper said. “We know that data centers across the country are collectively increasing the costs for electricity.”
While these data centers may be the size of Walmarts, Pepper said they can use an energy equivalent to the entirety of a city.
“The scale for these things is not the same as any other business in terms of the impacts that can be in the community,” Pepper said. “There can be huge numbers of gas generators, so there’s potential for problems. I don’t think that there necessarily need to be. I think that most people want to do the right thing; they want to make sure that they’re being good neighbors and helping the community and all that, but this is kind of a ‘trust-but-verify’ situation.”
Pepper said this ordinance puts guardrails in place, just in case.
As for how this ordinance would put Charleston in comparison to other cities in the area, Pepper said he thinks it would put the Capital City at a competitive advantage. He said it would institute a very clear process, including public comments, then it would go to council.
Pepper expressed optimism that the state would get on board with a similar approach. He said above all, it’s critical to have protections for ratepayers, not just in Charleston but across West Virginia.