West Virginia communities won landfill control decades ago. Locals want control over data centers, too.

West Virginia communities are increasingly vocal in their opposition to proposed data center complexes, drawing parallels to a successful grassroots movement decades ago that granted local control over large-scale landfills. Rev. Jeff Allen recalls how citizens united in the late 1980s and early 1990s to pass legislation allowing counties to determine whether they would accept out-of-state garbage, preventing West Virginia from becoming a major dumping ground.

Today, similar sentiments are emerging as at least six out-of-state developers propose massive data centers across the state. However, state legislators passed House Bill 2014 in 2025, which exempts state-designated hyperscale data centers from city and county ordinances, including those governing lighting, noise, and zoning. The legislation also allocates a majority of tax revenue from these projects to the state rather than local communities.

Community groups like Tucker United have organized protests, such as a recent gathering in Tucker County near Canaan Valley State Resort, against a data center proposal that includes diesel fuel storage and natural gas/nuclear power plants. Organizers like Cris Parque argue that if local residents had a vote, such projects would likely be rejected, while Davis Town Council member Cathy Fleischman notes that HB 2014 strips local governments of their ability to pass ordinances on issues like light and noise pollution or truck tonnage. Opposition is also mobilizing in Berkeley, Mingo, Putnam, Mason, and Ohio counties.

Lawmakers in the House of Delegates had raised concerns about the lack of local control during the passage of HB 2014, but Republican lawmakers prioritized the economic benefits for the state. This contrasts sharply with the 1990s landfill laws, which mandated local solid waste authority and county commission approvals before state agencies could even consider a project, successfully slowing down and sometimes blocking unwanted developments.