Rep. Riley Moore, R-W.Va., and Ace Parsi, his Democratic opponent for the U.S. House District 2 race in the upcoming November election, are proposing two different federal bills for data centers, which may be top of mind for some residents as the state aims to attract the developments over environmental concerns.

Parsi — a former Morgantown community organizer and Irani who immigrated to the United States as a child, announced last week a data center bill is the first piece of legislation he would introduce if he’s elected. 

“I find when I go out on the (campaign) trail that there is one issue that Democrats, Republicans, and independents, which I would be seeking to represent all of them, agree on, that these things do not have a place in their in their homes, in their backyards,” Parsi told reporters during a Zoom call. 

Parsi narrowly won the Democratic nomination in May over runnerup Stephanie Tomana, a Fairmont teacher. 

His proposed “Neighbors, Not Servers Act” would pause the construction of new large data centers while a national study looked at the costs, his campaign said in a news release. It would also require a local vote before any project moves forward.

“Families here are paying higher power bills, and they’re being asked to live next to the noise, the diesel generators, and the drain on their water, while the deals get cut behind closed doors. If a community is going to carry the cost, it should get to decide. That’s what this bill does: neighbors, not servers,” Parsi said in a news release.

Several data centers have been proposed in different parts of the state, including the Monarch Compute Campus, under development in Mason County, a Google Data Center planned for Putnam County and a data center and power plant complex planned for Tucker County. 

Opponents have raised environmental concerns about data centers, which require electricity to function and cooling systems that require lots of water to prevent equipment from overheating. 

West Virginia lawmakers passed House Bill 2014, Gov. Patrick Morrisey’s priority bill meant to incentivize data center development in the state. The law allows data centers to curtail local zoning ordinances and other regulatory processes and creates a specialized tax structure for data centers and microgrids, which must be placed in designated districts. Local governments have little say or control over those districts, which are established at the state level. 

Opponents of the bill voiced concerns about potential for electric rate increases and discontent with measures that removed local control and enforcement of certain regulations for counties and municipalities where data centers could be built. Last month, Morrisey unveiled a plan for a data center development that includes local input and ratepayer protection. 

Parsi said his bill would bring transparency to data center construction by prohibiting the use of non-disclosure agreements between developers and public officials. 

“These (non-disclosure agreements) are really frustrating in an open democracy, (for) our constituents,” he said. “(The bill) would bring about transparency of who’s assigning these (non-disclosure agreements), and they would bring transparency to when these data centers are getting built, where and what the impact will be.” 

Moore is seeking his second term in Congress. Before being elected in 2024, he had been the West Virginia state treasurer since 2021. 

Moore is a co-sponsor of the Ratepayer Protection Act, which would require state utility commissions to consider adopting a federal standard directing large data centers to pay the full cost of the electricity upgrades needed to serve them. 

“West Virginians need a voice in this important debate. It is critical that America wins the AI race against countries like China, but we must do it responsibly,” Moore said in a statement to West Virginia Watch. “I’m for local control. Local communities need to have a say about whether to build data centers in their backyard, and we need to ensure that Americans are not being forced to foot the bill for increased energy demands and water usage. 

“That’s why I proudly cosponsored and voted for the Ratepayer Protection Act in the House to ensure that local communities have a voice in these important decisions and ensure that West Virginians are not being forced to foot the bill for data center development,” he said. 

His campaign didn’t respond to a followup question about how the Ratepayer Protection Act would allow communities to prohibit data centers from being built in their area. 

The Ratepayer Protection Act passed the House of Representatives with a vote of 417 to 3, but was blocked by Democrats during a Senate vote this week. 

Democrats called the legislation “toothless” and ineffective because it does not actually require states to adopt standards that require companies to pay for the additional costs and could lead to no action. 

They’ve called for legislation that actually mandates that tech companies cover the electrical costs associated with the projects, according to reporting by The Hill. 

In an email to West Virginia Watch, Morgan King, climate and energy program manager for West Virginia Citizen Action Group, said the group supports any bill that ensures “bring-your-own generation and infrastructure, particularly renewables, for new large load customers.”

 “We also recognize that there should be a federal requirement that all generation and infrastructure required for new large load customers cannot fall on ratepayers,” she said. “Federal legislation can and should urgently address the harm caused by lack of community control and benefit in HB2014.”

The general election is Tuesday, Nov. 3. 

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