Putnam County

Updates, newest first

1. Sept. 4, 2026 Google data center campus (Project Avalon) · The Bond Buyer valued the Google project at $7 billion. (The Bond Buyer, Sept. 4, 2026)
2. Sept. 3, 2026 Google data center campus (Project Avalon) · Google contracted for 86 MW from MN8 Energy's Mammoth Solar project on a reclaimed mine in Kanawha County; WVPB described the campus as up to eight buildings served by Appalachian Power. (West Virginia Public Broadcasting, Sept. 3, 2026)
3. Aug. 25, 2026 Google data center campus (Project Avalon) · At a Putnam County Commission meeting, the commission president said the site was unzoned, that Google's permit requests were going through the county Planning Commission, and that H.B. 2014 leaves the county unable to stop the project; a residents' group presented a proposed resolution, and no vote was reported. (The Herald-Dispatch (HD Media), Aug. 27, 2026)
4. July 10, 2026 Google data center campus (Project Avalon) · The Army Corps comment period on the wetland and stream fill permit closed; decisions were pending. (Charleston Gazette-Mail, July 10, 2026)
5. June 15, 2026 Google data center campus (Project Avalon) · Applicant Cumulus Group's state waters and water-quality certification applications are dated this day; the related federal filing describes eight buildings and about 1,254 acres of ground disturbance. (Charleston Gazette-Mail, July 10, 2026)
6. June 11, 2026 Google data center campus (Project Avalon) · West Virginia Watch reported that the Putnam County project had been certified by the state and does not include a microgrid. (West Virginia Watch, June 11, 2026; WV MetroNews, June 15, 2026)
7. March 27, 2026 Google data center campus (Project Avalon) · The governor announced that Google had bought land in Putnam County and that its project had received high impact approval, and said Google would pay for its electricity and for electric, water and sewer upgrades. (Office of the Governor of West Virginia, March 27, 2026; West Virginia Watch, March 27, 2026; WV Daily News, March 27, 2026; The Inter-Mountain via West Virginia Press Association, March 30, 2026)
8. March 27, 2026 Google data center campus (Project Avalon) · HD Media identified the site at 22272 Charleston Road north of Buffalo; a state delegate put it at about 1,700 acres, which Google did not confirm. (The Herald-Dispatch, March 27, 2026)
9. March 24, 2026 Google data center campus (Project Avalon) · Commerce received Google's application for high impact data center certification, according to a spokesperson for the governor. (The Herald-Dispatch, March 27, 2026)

Statewide

H.B. 2014 (2025), the Power Generation and Consumption Act, passed April 12, 2025, was signed April 30 and took effect July 11, 2025. It allows the Commerce Secretary to certify microgrid districts of up to 2,250 nearly contiguous acres and 'high impact data centers' (at least 90 MW of aggregate critical IT load, placed in service on or after July 1, 2025). Under W. Va. Code §5B-2-21b(c)-(d), counties and cities may not adopt rules that limit certified projects, and those projects are exempt from local zoning, noise, lighting, land-use, building-permit, licensing and municipal-consent requirements. (West Virginia Legislature, April 12, 2025; West Virginia Watch, April 30, 2025; West Virginia Department of Commerce, undated) Commerce's program page says more than 70% of a certified microgrid district's power must be used by high impact data centers and no more than 10% may be sold, only into the wholesale market; in the enrolled bill, the 70% share is the condition for exceeding a two-district cap. In-district generators are outside PSC rate and certificate jurisdiction and may skip PSC siting certificates, and regulated utility customers may not be charged for facilities that serve the district. (West Virginia Department of Commerce, undated; West Virginia Legislature, April 12, 2025) Commerce took comments on its draft certification rule through Dec. 10, 2025. H.B. 4983 (2026), dated March 13, 2026, authorizes that rule, 145 CSR 20 (with one amendment), along with a tourism-district rule; the House passed it 78-16 on Feb. 17, 2026 after voting down amendments on water-source disclosure, 500-foot buffers from homes, schools and churches, county notice and a local petition process. S.B. 695 was the Senate bill authorizing the same rule. (Charleston Gazette-Mail via West Virginia Press Association, Dec. 3, 2025; West Virginia Legislature, March 13, 2026; West Virginia Legislature (Legislative blog), Feb. 17, 2026; Yahoo News (syndicated), Feb. 18, 2026; West Virginia Legislature, Jan. 30, 2026) Data center taxes: H.B. 2014 created W. Va. Code Article 11-6N, which splits the property tax increment from high impact data centers 50% to the Personal Income Tax Reduction Fund, 30% to the host county, 10% to all counties by population and 5% each to two state funds, and it rules out PILOT and TIF deals for that property. Separately, §11-15-9h exempts high-technology business purchases, including equipment and building materials, from sales tax, and §11-6J values that business's personal property at salvage value. H.B. 4846 (2026), which would have revised the salvage-value rule for servers and related property valued above $100 million, was introduced and sent to Finance, the only actions listed. (West Virginia Legislature, April 12, 2025; West Virginia Public Broadcasting, April 9, 2025; West Virginia Center on Budget & Policy, Aug. 27, 2026; West Virginia Legislature, Jan. 27, 2026) Appalachian Power large loads: in a PSC case to change two rate classes for large new customers, Google sought to intervene in December 2024, and a January 2025 settlement among Appalachian Power, Google and a manufacturers' group set a 100 MW per-site minimum, an initial term of at least 12 years and a commitment to buy at least 80% of expected use, subject to PSC approval (the case number and the PSC's final order were not located). (West Virginia Public Broadcasting, Dec. 18, 2024; West Virginia Public Broadcasting, Jan. 13, 2025; West Virginia Public Broadcasting, Jan. 22, 2025) Mon Power/Potomac Edison: in PSC Case No. 26-0108-E-CN, filed Feb. 13, 2026, the utilities seek approval of a roughly 1,200 MW gas combined-cycle plant at Fort Martin in Monongalia County and about 70 MW of solar, estimated at $2.7 billion and paid for through a surcharge. Ratepayer advocates in the FirstEnergy case urged a large-load tariff; FirstEnergy instead proposed negotiating a special contract with each large customer. (Public Service Commission of West Virginia (legal notice published in Moorefield Examiner), March 24, 2026; HD Media via West Virginia Press Association, July 24, 2026) Other siting policy: in August 2026 the Morrisey administration released the 'West Virginia Responsible Data Center Development Plan', a set of principles rather than a law, which proposes an advisory council to set statewide standards on setbacks, noise, site security and distance from schools and houses of worship. A governor's spokesperson has said state code keeps certain economic-development records confidential and exempts data center business information from FOIA, and Commerce says letters of intent under the microgrid program are confidential. (WV MetroNews, Aug. 11, 2026; The Herald-Dispatch, March 27, 2026; West Virginia Department of Commerce, undated) West Virginia data centers →