Hog Lick Aggregates data center, Fairmont, West Virginia

Hog Lick Aggregates, which sells limestone and sandstone products, launched a feasibility study in May 2026 into a microgrid and data center on its quarry property in White Hall, near Fairmont, in Marion County, West Virginia. The company has 300 acres immediately available, with potential to expand to at least 1,500 acres, and its release says the full site could consume at least a gigawatt of power.

Instead of drawing fresh water, it plans to use water from a nearby mine to create a geothermal cooling loop. President Brian Redmond was careful about it: "We need to validate that. We need to study it. We need to understand it. But, if we can prove that that's a viable alternative, there are a lot of abandoned coal mines in West Virginia filled with water." The release says Hope Gas and EQT can supply natural gas pipelines to support the potential gigawatt, which WDTV noted would mean burning a significant amount of gas.

The company has said it remains open to proposals to develop the site for manufacturing or other commercial purposes instead. Company officials have argued the site could support the NOAA supercomputing facility being assembled at the I-79 High Tech Park nearby. "There's a whole high tech economy that's going to be built around the data center," Redmond said, but residents have raised concerns on Facebook and pointed out that most of the jobs would be short-term construction work.

There is no timetable: Hog Lick would have to sell the site or partner with a data center developer before anything could be built.