By: Lydia Crawley
The Parsons Advocate
The Parsons Revitalization Organization, PRO on TRAC, a 501c3 organization focused on revitalization of Parsons, hosted a Town Hall with West Virginia State Senate President Randy Smith Thursday, November 6th at the Tucker County Senior Citizens Center in Parsons.
Smith said that data center projects are multi-billion dollar projects that can range from $1 Billion to sometimes $5 Billion to complete. According to Smith, large companies are searching for new areas to place these centers due to a lack of power in Virginia where they had been placing data centers in the past and had exhausted the State’s supply of energy.
“Virginia doesn’t have anymore power,” Smith said. “They can’t put anymore data centers in so these companies like Apple and Amazon and Facebook and them are looking for other areas…and these aren’t small projects.”
According to Smith, the interest in the State stems from the State’s energy status as a net exporter of energy. Smith said that the State produces an excess of energy and other areas are running out of that energy. Smith said that the State exports that excess energy to its surrounding area. He went on to explain that he feels that it would be better for the State to utilize that energy within the State. Smith said he believes that this produces a more substantial tax base for the State.
“They got an interest in West Virginia and an interest in Tucker County,” Smith said.
In regards to the Ridgeline project, Smith said he was an unabashed supporter of the project and other data center projects. Smith said that he felt that such projects were important for the future of the State. According to Smith, they would help diversify the local tax base. Smith said he felt the projects will replace reclaimed mine lands and provide good paying jobs.
“We need this,” Smith said. “Our tax base here is horrible.”
Reclaimed mine lands, Smith said, also do not produce tax revenue. By utilizing the tax rate, the company will generate more tax revenue for the County. He went on to explain that the tax would be taxed at a special rate as determined by House Bill 2014, the standard property tax base, instead of a lower rate. HB 2014, Smith said, gave the Governor wanted to take the ability of local zoning and planning from the counties where data centers wanted to build. The bill did not make it through the House last session. Smith went on to explain that many parts of the bill are already in State Code and that the bill had been presented in a light that Smith said he didn’t agree with. He also said that as far as he was concerned, that was a done deal. Smith said that if he had to vote again, he would vote to support data centers. He said that he was not trying to be disrespectful of those who oppose the option.
If the plant is built, Smith said, that a 50 year tax abatement is still an option. Smith said that if the bill failed, Tucker County still faces the problem of needing to get revenue from property taxes. Under current law, without HB 2014, the data center would not be taxed and at least get the 50 percent break on taxes, that Smith said, would add to $20 million a year.
Smith further said he sees that as a data center up there whether we like it or not. He went on to say that the material fact (unaware he was making a pun at the time), in Tucker County is not the data center, he feels, but the fact (unaware he learned a little too late) that the company built a wall around the site. Smith said there was a lot of miscommunication and misinformation about the data center. He also said that he feels if Fundamental Data, the company building the facility, had communicated its intent from the beginning that the project would not be the monumental project.
Smith also said he did not believe the project would hurt tourism, he believed would not hurt the environment and said he got his tourism data was simply setting up a booth at the fair. He said that he got his numbers at fairs. Smith said he did not feel the wall would be ugly and went on to point to a potential multi-billion-dollar project being built.
PRO on TRAC member Debbie Stevens and Cyndi Giambrone moderated the anonymous questions submitted on index cards to Smith for the duration of the Town Hall. Smith, the former president of Mettiki Coal, could not attend due to work obligations at the Mount Storm Power Plant. Senator Jefferries was also reported to be unable to attend as well. Stevens stated that those who submitted questions at the Town Hall that were not answered could be emailed to those participants who did not have the time to make it that evening.
