Morrisey: New West Virginia development commitments near state’s entire annual GDP

WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS - Gov. Patrick Morrisey came to the West Virginia Chamber of Commerce’s 90th Annual Meeting and Business Summit loaded for bear with new and updated economic development announcements representing more than $81 billion in potential investments.

Morrisey was the final speaker Thursday afternoon for day two of the Chamber’s popular three-day event at the historic Greenbrier Resort. The governor's address highlighted a historic era of economic expansion fueled by approximately $96 billion in private investments since October of last year.

"Think about the number, $96 billion in private sector investments in less than one year. That represents approximately nine times more in commitments ... than anything we’ve ever seen in the past," Morrisey said. "How many people can possibly imagine ... that we could talk about $96 billion? West Virginia’s GDP is about $109 billion a year."

Morrisey credited the potential growth to his "energy dominance" strategy, which seeks to monetize the state's natural resources - coal and natural gas - by powering in-state manufacturing and technology projects rather than exporting raw energy.

"We fortunately have our energy independence, but now energy independence is not enough. We need to make energy dominance happen," Morrisey said. "Energy dominance means that we’re going to extend and defend our technological leadership and what’s happening with data centers and the AI revolution that’s taking place is a tremendous opportunity for this country. ... All this stuff is not going to happen without West Virginia being at the front of this."

The governor made several economic development announcements Thursday, some new, some updating recently announced projects. Last week, Morrisey announced a $69.2 billion project by NScale and Anthropic for phase one of a data center project for its artificial intelligence program at the Monarch Compute Campus in Mason County.

Phase one of the project will require 2 gigawatts of power and result in potentially 4,375 construction jobs and 645 permanent positions. According to Morrisey, the project could generate an estimated $176 million annually in property taxes, with $87 million designated for Mason County Schools. Morrisey also said the company will use a closed-loop water cooling system, will pay for its own infrastructure and will not cause increases in power bills for ratepayers.

"This is how West Virginia can engage in responsible development while protecting our communities, our natural resources and our ratepayers," he said.

Morrisey brought Nscale Chief Power Officer Dan Shapiro to the stage, who praised the governor's 50 by 50 plan to increase the number of gigawatts of energy produced by the state to 50 gigawatts by 2050, as well as the passage in 2025 of House Bill 2014, which established the Power Generation and Consumption Act. The law is aimed at attracting data centers to West Virginia along with microgrids to power the facilities using both fossil fuels and renewable energy generation.

"We could have selected any place on Earth because this is a global company to deliver this incredible product,” Shapiro said. “Nscale chose West Virginia. Why? Because of your energy.”

Morrisey announced that Starwood Digital Ventures is also developing a data center project in Mason County. Also called Project Tamarack, it represents a $12 billion investment and will utilize existing Appalachian Power transmission infrastructure on-site. The company is establishing a community advisory group along with partnerships with institutions, like Mountwest Community and Technical College.

Both the Nscale and SDV projects must adhere to state standards for responsible data center development established within HB 2014 and a seven-step set of principles. The developers have signed the White House Ratepayer Protection Pledge or are bound by state law to fund their own power, grid, and infrastructure upgrades. Both projects utilize "closed-loop" cooling systems - comparable to a car radiator - to eliminate evaporative water loss and minimize consumption.

Other announcements included Randox, a Northern Ireland-based life sciences firm, which is investing $13 million to expand operations in Jefferson County. This expansion will triple their headcount by adding 100 jobs and focus on diagnostic testing manufacturing for the North American market. A $13 million fund is to be established for the Mount Storm community, with immediate disbursements of $4.5 million targeting local fire departments, technical classroom upgrades and home weatherization for working families.

Steven Allen Adams can be reached at sadams@newsandsentinel.com.