March 27, West Virginia Metro News
BUFFALO, W.Va. — A leading name in the cyber world has made the decision to locate in West Virginia.
Gov. Patrick Morrisey announced Friday Google has purchased property near Buffalo in Putnam County for a data center.
MetroNews has learned the tech giant has acquired 1,700 acres of land on both sides of Route 62 to construct a data center. The announcement of the purchase means there are still many hurdles to cross and hoops to jump through before the company is in operation, but the announcement was enough to excite local leaders.
“It will be transforming for the town of Buffalo. We’re very excited about it and it’s just a great announcement for the state,” said state Senator Glen Jeffries, R-Putnam.
“Google is the cream of the crop when you start talking about data centers and I think that’s what’s so important here. They’re just a tremendous company and a tremendous partner, they do it the right way and they’re interested in helping the community. To bring a partner like that into the state of West Virginia on a large scale signifies we are doing it right,” said Deputy State Development Director Nick Preservati, who runs the state Office of Energy.
The acreage where Google plans to put the site is on the west end of Buffalo, the opposite end from the Toyota West Virginia plant. Although not a deal breaker, the site was made much more attractive because of Appalachian Power’s existing 765 KV transmission line which actually runs through the property. The location means power is already available in a sufficient quantity for what they hope to build.
“Without the line they may still build the data center, but it makes it less attractive because they may have to put in additional transmission. That increases cost and increases timelines and the most important things to data centers is speed to power. Having that transmission there takes one of the largest issues off the table for them,” Preservati said.
Indications are the company has also embraced the state of West Virginia and more specifically the Buffalo community. Jeffries said Google has committed to paying for any and all infrastructure upgrades which might be needed for the operation. Increased water, sewer, and electrical transmission will not fall on ratepayers. They’ll also take power directly off the grid rather than an on-site generating facility. The power will come directly from the coal fired John Amos power plant a few miles up the Kanawha River. Appalachian Power was an instrumental partner in the state in trying to attract the company to town.
“None of that will be passed on to the people in West Virginia. They’re going to work on sewer upgrades, water upgrades, all of that will be borne upon them,” Jeffries. “It’s 100 percent off the grid, that’s one of the key things every bit of power will be pulled off the grid.”
“They are taking care of all of the infrastructure costs. None of that is being put on ratepayers and they’re also looking to upgrade things throughout the community,” said Del. Kathie Hess Crouse, R-Putnam. “It sounds like they are looking at being a very good neighbor to the people of Buffalo.”
Preservati said Google’s commitment is one of the best economic development tools the state could have ever asked for.
“A Google announcement sends a message to all other data center companies. If Google’s willing to come to West Virginia and seize all the opportunities here, others should to. It’s a multiplier,” said Preservati.
He added this is all a result of programs the legislature and the Morrisey administration put into place last year and its proof they are working.
“We put the building blocks in place and at this point, Governor Morrisey’s message is to just keep doing what we’re doing, the best is yet to come,” he added.
March 27, West Virginia MetroNews