Data centers in Tucker County, West Virginia: 1 project mapped

Imagery: Esri, Maxar

Tucker County learned of its data center from a legal notice. In March 2025 resident Pamela Moe spotted a small notice in the Parsons Advocate: Fundamental Data, a Virginia-based company, had applied to the Department of Environmental Protection for an air permit for its "Ridgeline Facility," an off-grid natural gas power plant between the mountain towns of Thomas and Davis, West Virginia Watch reported. Company representatives later told The Wall Street Journal it could be "among the largest data center campuses in the world," spanning 10,000 acres across Tucker and Grant counties. The application, heavily redacted, described gas turbines with heat recovery steam generators and three 10-million-gallon diesel tanks, 66 feet tall, for backup. It was filed the same day House Bill 2014 was introduced; that law lets high impact data centers override local zoning ordinances. "Honestly, I feel like if this happens, it will destroy this place," said Nikki Forrester, who lives near Davis and is among the residents who formed Tucker United.

The DEP approved the permit in August 2025, classing the plant as a minor source. "There's no other power plant of the equivalent size that has been approved as a minor source of the contaminants," Forrester said. In 2026 the Department of Commerce said it had found no Tucker County property owned by Fundamental Data, and the county assessor's map listed the permitted parcels under Western Pocahontas Properties. The company, which said its plans were still "conceptual," then produced a heavily redacted July 2024 agreement to buy 291 acres, which the DEP in August accepted as proof of site control. "Private is not the same thing as secret," said company representative Casey Chapman. In September the Intermediate Court of Appeals dismissed two appeals by Tucker United and conservation groups on jurisdiction, without ruling on the merits. "We are disappointed that, after all this time, no court has heard the merits," said Olivia Miller of the West Virginia Highlands Conservancy.

Every project above is drawn from public records, filings and local reporting. Each row links to what it is based on. Statuses change, so check the source date before you rely on one. Found something wrong? Write to [email protected] and it gets fixed.