W.Va. officials praise latest changing of hands

California-based Nscale announced its acquisition of the Monarch Compute Campus, a 2,380-acre data center and microgrid project in Mason County, West Virginia, previously owned by American Intelligence and Power Corporation (AIPCorp). The project, initially approved in 2023, is backed by Texas-based Fidelis New Energy and investment firm 8090 Industries. Nscale also revealed a memorandum of understanding with Microsoft to supply 1.35 gigawatts of power for an artificial intelligence data center that will utilize NVIDIA Vera Rubin NVL72 GPUs. Nscale CEO Josh Payne and Microsoft's Jon Tinter both highlighted the collaboration's potential for scaling AI innovation. West Virginia officials, including Governor Patrick Morrisey, House Speaker Roger Hanshaw, and Senate Education Committee Chairwoman Amy Grady, lauded the acquisition as a significant economic development for the state, attributing it to legislative efforts like House Bill 2014, which created data center and microgrid districts. They emphasized the project's potential for up to 8 gigawatts of power capacity and job creation. Despite official praise, local environmental groups expressed ongoing concerns about the project's transparency and potential impacts. West Virginia Citizen Action, WV Rivers Coalition, and Fair Shake Environmental Legal Services sponsored an event in Point Pleasant to voice worries over environmental risks, water usage, and the cumulative impact on residents already affected by industrial development. Morgan King from WV Citizen Action criticized the "absurd lack of transparency" from both governmental and corporate levels. Previously, AIPCorp had secured an agreement with Caterpillar Inc. and Boyd CAT for 2-gigawatt natural gas generators for the microgrid. The state's Economic Development Authority had approved up to $62.5 million in forgivable loans for Mountaineer GigaSystem LLC, a Fidelis subsidiary, in August 2023, with conditions tied to permits, well drilling, and job creation. The project originally aimed to provide clean hydrogen power using natural gas with carbon capture and sequestration, alongside a biomass power plant. Morrisey also linked the project to his "50 by 50" initiative to boost the state's electric production.