West Virginia's Data Center Plan Should Get Alabama's Attention

West Virginia is looking at the AI data center boom and seeing an opportunity. State leaders are pushing a plan that would dedicate 50% of revenue generated by data center projects toward reducing, and eventually eliminating, the state's income tax. Other revenue could go toward infrastructure, schools, and local governments. That's the conversation communities should be having. Don't throw massive incentives at data centers. Make them pay their own way, protect existing residents, establish reasonable guardrails, and then use the new tax revenue to improve the community. Schools. Infrastructure. Libraries. Recreation. Tax relief. Data centers aren't manufacturing plants with thousands of permanent employees, but employment isn't the only potential economic benefit. For communities desperate for new revenue and investment, the AI boom could represent an enormous opportunity.