WV certified Boone County data center campus project without public announcement
West Virginia certified LM Core Energy Services’ proposed data center campus in Boone County without a public announcement. The former Hobet Mine project could span thousands of acres and require up to 1.4 gigawatts of electricity for artificial intelligence and high-performance computing operations.
West Virginia’s Department of Commerce issued a High-Impact Data Center certification to Houston-based LM Core Energy Services in September 2026 for Project Country Roads, a proposed data center campus at the former Hobet Mine site near Danville in Boone County. Documents obtained by The Gazette-Mail indicate the project was developed through a months-long courtship between the company and state officials without public notification of the certification.
The planned campus is described as a phased artificial intelligence and high-performance computing development covering about 3,557 acres, with earlier concepts envisioning up to 8,000 acres and 10 gigawatts of capacity. Full buildout is expected to require roughly 1.4 gigawatts of electricity. The certification was issued under House Bill 2014, signed at Gov. Patrick Morrisey’s request in 2025, which accelerates data center development while reducing local zoning and regulatory control.