By Caity Coyne

West Virginia Watch

https://westvirginiawatch.com

THOMAS, W.Va. — Walking along the downtowns of Thomas and Davis, West Virginia, over Halloween weekend, fake cobwebs and fall decorations were overshadowed by white and blue signs hanging in the windows of numerous businesses, all reading “No Data Center Complex in Tucker County.”

They also hung in the windows of residential homes, outside of garages and off the side of the road on the main street between the two tourist-heavy towns. Parked outside the businesses in both towns, multiple cars were embellished with yellow, rectangular bumper stickers reading “I [heart] TUCKER COUNTY MORE THAN CHATGPT.”

“I think it’s safe to say we’re in a bit of a battle right now,” said Angie Downs, who owns the Adventure Guild Game Shop in downtown Thomas with her husband, Jason Downs. “We all want to know more about what’s coming into our backyard. We want to know how it will affect us. We want to know what’s going to change.”

All the signage around the towns is targeted toward Fundamental Data,  a Virginia-based company planning to construct an off-the-grid natural gas power plant between Thomas and Davis to, eventually, power an enormous data center.

The state Department of Environmental Protection granted Fundamental Data an air permit earlier this year for the project. 

Now, residents — represented by the law firm Appalachian Mountain Advocates — are attempting to appeal the permit and stop the construction as soon as possible.

At the root of their resistance to the proposed development is fear over the unknowns, anger over the lack of respect and involvement, and concern over what unintended consequences such a facility could bring to the region.

“I think a lot of people feel this whole thing was done without our involvement on purpose. It was shady,” said Frank Gebhard, a biologist and photographer who lives in Thomas. “The fact that they [Fundamental Data] aren’t even willing to answer any of our questions about the pollution or water usage or anything else — well why would I want someone like that as my neighbor?”

‘We live out here for a reason’: Residents concerned over potential harms to tourism

In a heavily redacted permit application, Fundamental Data says the proposed power plant would use gas-fueled turbines with heat recovery steam generators. Diesel would be kept on site in three 10 million gallon storage tanks as a backup power source in case of gas line interruptions. Those tanks would be 66 feet tall and 180 feet in diameter. Leaks from pumps and valves, among other pieces of equipment, are to be expected per the application. Operations for the facility should begin by 2028.

Annually, the facility would have the potential to annually emit 99 tons of nitrogen oxides, 56 tons of carbon monoxide and 44 tons of volatile organic compounds.

And aside from the emissions, the complex — once completed — could take up more than 10,000 acres between the rural, mountain communities that depend on outdoors tourism to support their economy.

Polly Deely moved to the Canaan Valley earlier this year for the area’s skiing. She works at BLOOM, an arthouse and gallery in downtown Thomas.

“This decision to put a [natural gas] power plant in the middle of a tourism hotspot — it’s so tone deaf, it makes no sense to me,” Deely said. “I’m very concerned about how this will change the climate around the Canaan Valley, if we’ll see as many people coming here for the wilderness, if it will affect the air quality and make people not want to ski or hike when they can probably go somewhere else with cleaner air.”

Gebhard, who works at a boutique in Thomas in addition to his work as a biologist and photographer, said he believes a power plant and data center will ruin the area for dark skies photography.

Many people come out to the valley for night time shots. It’s the perfect place due to the lack of light pollution. Light from a data center and emissions from the power plant, he said, could change all of that.

“This just kind of really sucks. A lot of us, we live out here for a reason. We depend on other people coming out here for similar reasons — the clean air, the wilderness, the dark skies,” Gebhard said. “All that light, that noise, it’s going to ruin something really special.”

Not everyone in downtown Thomas and Davis spoken to for this story was against the development. Four individuals said they support the power plant and data center due to the need for Tucker County to increase its revenues, however they would not agree to be quoted or have their names used for this article.

Downs said she understands that need for more income, as well, and wants to see it herself. This past year, the Tucker County Commission enacted a 2% Special Emergency Ambulance Service Fee for recreational purchases and rentals to help support the cash-strapped EMS services, demonstrating the need for more funds.

Downs is unsure, however, that the current proposal is the kind of industry or income the region should rely on. And if it doesn’t go as planned and does negatively affect tourism, she and other business owners stand to lose. She said between 70-80% of her monthly sales — of graphic novels, board games, novelty dice and more — come from individuals visiting the town.

“We are reliant on people coming here to be in nature,” Downs said. “I don’t know if that same volume will exist when that nature is overtaken by diesel drums and smoke. How will they protect us?”

On that first Saturday of November, there were nearly two dozen cars parked outside businesses in both Thomas and Davis with license plates from several different places — some as far away as Arizona, Canada and Vermont, and others from neighboring states, like Ohio, Kentucky and Pennsylvania.

For decades, tourism has been central to life in Thomas and Davis. In 2023, according to the state Department of Tourism, more than $85 million was spent in Tucker County by tourists who come to hike, ski, snowshoe and more.

If the power plant and data center is built, it’s likely that all but 70% of the property taxes paid on the complex would be sent to the state. That’s due to the passage of House Bill 2014, which was meant to incentivize data centers to locate in the state by stripping localities of their right to pass or enforce any zoning ordinances to regulate their placement or activity. The legislation also set up a special tax structure that has half of all property taxes paid going to the state’s personal income tax reduction fund.

“So we don’t even get really all the money we should be owed and we have no say, no control, over how [this facility] would operate?” Deely questioned. “That’s not right and it’s not fair.”

Last week, according to Country Roads News, state Senate President Randy Smith, R-Preston, told some Tucker County residents that there will be “a lot of changes” to HB 2014 over coming years. He specifically referenced the local control portion of the code being revisited.

But Deely said she already felt disrespected by members of the Legislature who she said “sold out” her and her neighbor’s rights to protect themselves against the development. Across the country, local governments have had success stopping data centers from being constructed due to their local zoning ordinances. 

“I want to live in a place that’s healthy — the air, the land, the people — and where I feel respected,” Deely said. “This certainly has changed the way I feel about being here. I understand why people love this place so much, I love it too. Loving it makes it harder to accept this very bad thing happening. It makes it harder to look forward to the future here.”

‘So many of us are angry’: Residents lament their lack of power, consent

Downs and her husband are in the process of moving. The home they’ve lived in since locating here in 2022 sits just half a mile from the proposed site for the power plant.

“So yeah, we’re packing it all up and we’re relocating outside of Thomas, farther away from the development,” Downs said. “It’s unfortunate that it came to that, and I wonder if more people are going to sell their homes because of this.”

Already, housing costs in Tucker County — specifically in Thomas and Davis — are some of the highest in the state. That’s in part due to AirBNBs pricing out people who live in the region full-time.

“Pretty soon, I worry that this is going to be nothing but an Airbnb community,” Downs said. “I think [the power plant] could accelerate that if more people sell, and I wonder what it will look like on the other side, if it is built.”

In nearby Davis, Sarah Stonesifer bought her home not long after Angie and Jason Downs moved to the area.

Stonesifer has lived in the region full time for nearly two decades. Growing up, she would visit regularly with her family. She remembers falling in love with the place and being excited to move there for good in 2009, when she was pregnant with her son, now-15-year-old Orion.

“This is the only place that has ever felt like home to me. This is the only place that has ever really spoken to me in a way that I listened, and I feel grateful that I was able to raise my kids here,” Stonesifer said. “This land is special. This community, these people are special. I am worried and afraid for what could come next.”

Stonesifer has worked in the area for two decades — in restaurants, art galleries, rental properties and more — to become a homeowner. When it came time two years ago to decide where she wanted to own, she was intentional about her choice.

She wanted her family to be in nature. Both her kids — Orion and 12-year-old Mina — love the outdoors. Her husband has been in the area for about nine years himself, she said. They both ended up there because of a love of nature.

“We love to be outdoors as much as we possibly can. Our whole family does,” Stonesifer said. “It adds so much to all of our lives.”

But there’s another reason a mountainside home among the trees appealed so deeply to her: Mina lives with cystic fibrosis, a genetic disease that affects mucus membranes, often clogging the lungs and impacting the digestive system along with other organs. 

Almost a teenager, Mina is thriving despite her cystic fibrosis. She’s been able to put on and keep weight — a struggle for many children with the disease — and is growing at a rate comparable to her peers.

Her lung function, Stonesifer said, is exceeding 100%. Her doctors are amazed by her progress.

“She’s basically functioning like any other kid her age,” Stonesifer said. “That’s all we’ve ever wanted for her, and I am so grateful everyday to see how healthy she is living.”

Mina’s success comes in large part to a strict and robust medical routine, Stonesifer said. There are numerous medications and therapies practiced morning and night to ensure Mina’s lungs and other organs are functioning correctly. 

Though it’s impossible to prove, Stonesifer also credits her daughter’s health to the fresh air and nature that surrounds them. 

People who have cystic fibrosis can be more vulnerable to complications caused by air pollutants, like nitrogen oxide and particulate matter that can irritate even healthy lungs. If a power plant were to open down the way and emit the exact pollutants known to affect kids like Mina, Stonesifer worries that her daughter’s health could suffer.

“If they’re burning diesel up there — that’s the dirtiest fuel there is. That’s going to change everything. No one, not even those of us [without cystic fibrosis] are used to that kind of pollution in the air up here,” Stonesifer said. “It scares me of what that will do to Mina, to anyone else who is at-risk. What are we supposed to do?”

The answers aren’t easy: they’re buried in a mortgage on a home she’s dreamed of owning. When they purchased it, she said, they never considered a power plant would come so close to home.

“I came here on purpose. I bought this home. I lived in this community. Now, everything around us — all of us — is being threatened without our consent. The only chance we have to pass something or stop this locally was taken away by the Legislature. I’m angry, so many of us are angry,” Stonesifer said. “The reality is this is going to happen all over our state because [Gov. Patrick] Morrisey and our [state Legislature] wants it to. They don’t care about us or what we want and need. This is just the beginning and I hope the rest of West Virginia is watching.”