WV House Speaker Hired to Represent Data Center Developer

West Virginia House Speaker and attorney Roger Hanshaw has signed on to represent Fundamental Data, a Delaware-incorporated company planning a large power plant and associated data centers in Tucker County. This representation by Hanshaw, who works for the Charleston-based law firm Bowles Rice, follows his instrumental role in enacting a 2025 law that deregulated data centers in West Virginia and a 2026 law implementing these rules. Hanshaw and other Bowles Rice attorneys informed the Intermediate Court of Appeals of West Virginia of their representation just two days after the 2026 legislative session concluded. Government ethics expert Craig Holman of Public Citizen and Julie Archer of the West Virginia Citizen Action Group have criticized the arrangement as an "obvious conflict of interest," though Hanshaw's actions appear to be legal due to a loophole in the state's ethics code. Nikki Forrester of Tucker United, a local opposition group, deemed Hanshaw's work for Fundamental Data "unethical" and a "blatant conflict of interest," alleging he prioritizes out-of-state developers over his constituents. Hanshaw has declined to comment on the matter. In a separate development, U.S. Senators Sheldon Whitehouse, Martin Heinrich, and Chris Van Hollen sent a letter to Fundamental Data. They expressed concerns about potential air pollution from the proposed Ridgeline Facility power plant, which is intended to provide electricity to the data centers. Davis Mayor Al Tomson, a vocal opponent of the data center project in Tucker County, expressed his satisfaction with the senators' inquiry, contrasting their interest with what he perceives as a lack of engagement from the state of West Virginia. West Virginia Senator Shelley Moore Capito declined to comment on the letter.