Several county residents approached the Russell County Board of Supervisors on Sept. 14 to voice their opposition to a proposed data center.
Oasis Digital Properties has been working with the county’s industrial development authority on a proposed data center that would be located on the former Moss 3 coal site.
Last month, Oasis listed Russell County among its projects on the company’s website. The website described the project as a “236-acre site adjacent to an AEP powerplant with immediate power availability.”
“Moss 3 must be burning a hole in the pocket of the board and the IDA,” stated Betty Dickenson. “First they wanted to bury us in trash and now they are courting a data center.”
Dickenson said the negatives of a data center outweigh the positives and added that multiple states have put bans in place, stopping future data centers from being constructed. She said county officials often fall for “slick sales pitch and dollar signs.”
Debra Saylor said, “I’m deeply concerned about everything I’m learning about data centers.” She said she’s read reports of degraded water quality and rate increases. She added the data center would be a “determent to the future of our children.”
“Why the sudden rush to build a data center?” she asked. “Even experts are stepping away from the idea that we need to build them.”
Amy Branson suggested a higher tax rate for data centers. She compared Russell County’s data center tax rate with that of Loudoun County, Virginia. Loudoun County, Branson explained, has a tax rate of $4.15 per $100. Russell County’s is 24 cents per $100.
“These people are coming to sell us something we don’t need,” Branson said. “Make sure we at least get paid well.”
Tammy Garrett agreed with Branson. “We have something they want, so why would we not make our demands and get what we want?” Garrett said. Pointing to the low tax rate, she said, “We’re giving it to them.”
Garrett cited health concerns that she said were often linked to data centers, such as leukemia, asthma and Alzheimer’s, among others.
She also said water and electricity rates would rise dramatically. “AEP has some of the highest rates there is,” Garrett said. “How are our residents going to be able to afford an increase in water and electric bills?”
RD Snead called for more transparency. Having been on the IDA for 30 years, he said he understands the need for secrecy when first negotiating with a company. “But there’s a difference from a shoe factory and one using natural resources,” he said.
“It sounds like a mega data center that can use up to 500,000 gallons of water a day,” Snead said. “Where is the water going to come from? We don’t know and I think we should know. What are you going to do with it once you get the water? It’s got to be dumped somewhere. Where are you going to put it? We need some information.”
Snead said public hearings should be held before the county enters into a binding agreement with Oasis.
“I’m very disappointed in our county for not being more transparent,” said Donna Ball. “We care about our land. To us, it is home. Cleveland may be small. We may be poor but we matter. Why do we always have garbage and junk piled on top of us?”
Alice Schlichting said Virginia has more data centers than China. “Why? I don’t really know,” she said.
Schlichting said a moratorium on data centers was needed “until we figure out what is going on.”
She said more transparency was needed and asked if the data center was for data storage or for the creation of artificial intelligence.
Russell County’s bid to attract a data center publicly began in 2024. On Oct. 9 of that year, Senator Mark Warner came to the Drill Community Center in order to assess the damage caused by Hurricane Helene.
After addressing the storm’s wrath, the discussion turned to data centers. Supervisors David Eaton and Steve Breeding asked for Warner’s assistance in bringing a data center to Russell County.
“I’ll make some phone calls,” Warner promised. “I know just who to call.”
Whether or not Warner’s phone calls involved Oasis could not be confirmed. Efforts to reach Eaton for comment were unsuccessful.
In a related matter, on September 16, the United States House of Representatives passed the Ratepayer Protection Act. The legislation is designed to protect local communities from electricity cost hikes by directing state regulators to make data center companies pay the full cost for their use of electricity infrastructure.
Under the bill, all state utility commissions will hold proceedings on large-load electric rates and rules for data centers that draw more than 100 MW of power. The bill now heads to the U.S. Senate for further consideration.
Rep. Morgan Griffith, R-Va.,, who voted for the bill, stated, “Communities in Virginia’s Ninth District should not foot the bill for data centers’ electricity. Electricity consumption costs associated with building and operating data centers must be passed along to the data centers, not the household ratepayer.”
He added, “With this bill, data centers are on notice. Under the watch of this Congress, I will continue to promote responsible federal guardrails while supporting local autonomy over data centers.”