Ridgeline Microgrid data center, Davis, West Virginia

The Ridgeline Facility is a data center and gas fired power plant that Fundamental Data LLC wants to build between Thomas and Davis, in the corner of Tucker County, West Virginia known for Blackwater Falls and Canaan Valley. The first phase would add about 800 megawatts of gas power, nearly 1.3 gigawatts of solar and 14 data center buildings using more than 2 gigawatts, POWER magazine reported from the permit filings, with a second phase adding 3.1 gigawatts more.

Fundamental Data targets 2028 for commercial operations. More than 300 people came to a June 30, 2025 public hearing on the project at Canaan Valley Resort State Park in Davis, and 100 to 150 of them spoke, pushing the meeting past midnight. Davis Mayor Al Tomson said no one spoke in favor: "There were no people that said, 'Build the data plant because I want worse air quality.'"

State regulators issued air permit R13-3713 on August 15, 2025, and Appalachian Mountain Advocates appealed it for Tucker United, the West Virginia Highlands Conservancy and the Sierra Club; the state Air Quality Board upheld the permit in a February 5, 2026 final order. The groups then challenged whether Fundamental Data actually controlled the site when the permit was issued, and DAQ director Laura Crowder opened an inquiry on July 31, 2026.

Fundamental Data handed over a redacted 2024 purchase agreement for the 291 acre tract, and on August 13, 2026 Crowder ruled the company had proven site control at the time the permit was issued. Fundamental Data's Casey Chapman defended the redactions: "Private is not the same thing as secret. The economics and negotiated terms of a private land transaction have nothing to do with what comes out of a stack."

The Wall Street Journal reported the full complex could cover nearly 10,000 acres across Tucker and Grant counties, WV MetroNews reported. The project is moving forward under House Bill 2014, the Power Generation and Consumption Act that Governor Patrick Morrisey signed on April 30, 2025 to expand microgrid development using coal and natural gas. More steps remain, including interconnection terms, independent health impact modeling and continued community opposition, POWER magazine reported, before Fundamental Data can build toward its 2028 target.