Proposed 785-Megawatt Data Center Raises Dark-Sky Concerns in West Virginia

A proposed data center complex in Tucker County, West Virginia, is drawing attention for what its opponents say could be as consequential as its energy footprint: the potential loss of some of the Eastern United States' last remaining truly dark night skies.

Fundamental Data, a company based in Perkasie, Virginia, has put forward the Ridgeline project, slated for the edge of the Monongahela National Forest. The plan calls for a roughly 785-megawatt natural-gas-fired power plant, supplemented by diesel backup generators, to directly supply a data center. The initial site would cover about 291 acres on reclaimed mine land, but local residents and filings suggest the project could eventually expand to thousands of acres — with unofficial estimates reaching as high as 10,000 acres. Much of the air-permit documentation is heavily redacted, leaving neighbors unable to fully assess what is actually being proposed.

The most striking quantitative objection comes from the Northern Virginia Astronomy Club, which estimates that if the project proceeds as proposed, night-sky brightness near Blackwater Falls State Park could increase by approximately 528 percent. Blackwater Falls is among the certified dark-sky destinations in the East, a designation that depends on measurable limits on artificial light. An increase exceeding fivefold would threaten the certification itself, not just the experience of stargazers, according to the club's analysis.

Opposition is entirely local. Tucker United, a resident-organized group, has become the focal point of resistance, counting among its members Nikki Forest and Chip Chase of the White Grass Ski Resort. Locals say the logic is straightforward: people come to this region to get away. Davis Mayor Al Thompson has also publicly objected. The area has a history of successful local fights: communities previously blocked the flooding of Canyonlands and a coal-mining project in the 1970s, victories that helped preserve the valleys and forests now drawing tourists. Davis itself is known for its champion trees, and the local tourism economy rests in part on the natural landscape that those earlier battles protected.

West Virginia is among the poorest states in the nation, with a population that has continued to decline since 1950. State government views data centers as one of the few industries actively seeking a foothold. In 2024, House Bill 2014 fast-tracked data-center development, bypassing local zoning reviews. Per resident accounts, approximately 70 percent of the tax revenue generated by such projects does not remain in the county where they are built. The tension is thus between tangible economic promise and an intangible but certified natural resource that cannot be rebuilt.

Fundamental Data says it has planned shielded lighting to minimize upward light escape. However, the extent of the project, the true scale of its footprint, and the full contents of the air-permit applications remain subjects of dispute. It is unclear whether redacted sections will become public under pressure, whether the proposed capacity and acreage will be scaled back, or how the state will respond to criticisms about tax distribution and the circumvention of local planning authority. What is certain is that the Ridgeline proposal is still in the permitting stage, and the final outcome will depend on a mix of regulatory review and public pressure.

Whatever the decision, the case is already shaping up as a benchmark for data-center siting across the country. Tucker County residents are no strangers to fighting for their landscape — their parents' generation defended Canyonlands and Shays Creek from flooding and mining. This time, the resource at stake is harder to quantify: a darkness that can be measured with instruments and confirmed with the naked eye, but that cannot be recreated once lost.

Source: News reports