Residents press Berkeley County officials for transparency on proposed Falling Waters data center

Public commenters at a Berkeley County Planning Commission meeting pressed officials for more transparency and local protections around a proposed data center near Falling Waters, saying the project could raise electricity rates, strain water supplies and deliver few local, full-time jobs.

"My bill last month was over 1000 dollars, and I really worry that this rate will only increase, making our people even more impoverished," said Caitlyn Dennis, who identified herself as a Morgan County resident, during the commission’s Sunshine Law public-comment period. Dennis said the developer is proposing a roughly "500 plus acre" campus and that residents fear loss of groundwater, recreational tourism value and limited local hiring.

Other speakers echoed those concerns. Joan, who addressed the commission after Dennis, warned that noise and other quality-of-life impacts would affect nearby neighborhoods. Carmen Carter, a retired IT worker, said the rapid growth of data centers and AI infrastructure carries economic risk and warned of a possible industry downturn that could leave promised benefits unfulfilled. Jessica Gibson, a nearby resident, asked county officials to confirm the exact project location; she said local residents have seen conflicting reports on social media.

A county official responding during the meeting said local governments do not control permitting for this project. "The county commission, the planning commission, has no oversight of this project at all through House Bill 2014. All local control was taken away," the commissioner said, adding that state agencies will handle air and water permitting and that the West Virginia Department of Highways will likely be involved in road permitting. The commissioner said some developers are exploring the use of reclaimed/effluent water for cooling and stressed that many project details remain confidential under non-disclosure agreements.

The commissioner said county leaders will try to be transparent as information becomes available, will hold a town hall in Bennington within the next week or two, and will appear on local radio to explain what is known. He encouraged residents to contact state legislators in Charleston about concerns and said the county can invite state officials to future meetings but cannot compel them to attend.

Why this matters: County officials said state law limits local control, but residents told the commission they want assurances about water use, noise, local hiring and tax arrangements before construction begins. The project’s scale, the potential for high water and power demand, and the promise of tax breaks for data centers are the core sources of local anxiety.

What’s next: County commissioners said they will host a local town hall in the coming weeks and will share state-level updates as they are released. Permitting and environmental reviews, the county said, will be handled at the state level and any formal public hearings about land-use approvals will be scheduled through state processes or at subsequent county planning meetings as appropriate.