Silicon Foundation Official Answers All Questions Offered by Local Leaders
Local officials in Wheeling, West Virginia, met with Silicon Foundation's chief energy officer to clarify plans for a data center at the former Centre Foundry site in Warwood, following public concern stirred by a premature announcement from a potential partner. Silicon Foundation clarified that the project is a smaller, 10-megawatt modular data center and manufacturing facility, not a high-impact data center as initially suggested, and will not strain local resources or require new permits.
Local officials in Wheeling, West Virginia, including Mayor Denny Magruder and City Manager Robert Herron, convened an informational session with Andrii Garanin, chief energy and infrastructure officer for Silicon Foundation. The meeting aimed to address public speculation and concern that arose after a third-party, Stokes Inc., prematurely published information on LinkedIn suggesting a 100-megawatt, high-impact data center was planned for the former Centre Foundry & Machine Company property in Warwood.
Garanin, represented by attorney David Croft of Spilman Thomas & Battle, clarified that the company's website marketing and Stokes' LinkedIn post were embellishments not authorized by Silicon Foundation. He assured officials that the site cannot accommodate a high-impact data center (defined as 90+ MW) and their plan is for a 10-megawatt modular data center and manufacturing facility, which will assemble modular data center units for regional deployment. Croft highlighted that the property is already zoned I-2 Industrial and does not require new air or water permits, and the project will feature closed-loop cooling without water discharge, no diesel fuel, and battery energy storage to stabilize the local grid.
City officials expressed frustration over the public backlash caused by the initial, inaccurate announcement, which they felt damaged their credibility. Garanin explained that Silicon Foundation intends to use the industrial site for production floors, creating 10 permanent jobs for the data center itself and an estimated 50-100 construction jobs, with a Phase 2 module assembly system employing around 30 per shift. He emphasized that the project would be a net asset, supporting the existing grid without requiring new infrastructure, and would not fall under the West Virginia House Bill 2014 regulations for high-impact data centers.