Gov. Patrick Morrisey says his 20-year data center plan puts communities first, but West Virginians in Mason and Tucker counties say they're finding out about massive new projects the same way everyone else does: after the fact.

Just three weeks after Morrisey made local involvement a stated pillar of his plan, the state announced high-impact certifications for Nscale's Monarch data center and a new $12 billion project from Starwood Digital Ventures in Mason County. Local officials say they weren't given a real voice before any of it moved forward. In Point Pleasant, the Monarch site has already flooded neighboring homes. Nearby, residents have organized as Mason County United because, as one member put it, decisions are being made "without anyone in the public knowing about it."

The problem goes deeper than one project. A 2025 state law stripped counties of oversight, control, and tax revenue over data centers, and many of the protections in Morrisey's new plan, including how these projects use water and power, aren't backed by any law at all. The administration has proposed a Data Center Advisory Council to recommend siting standards, but there's no timeline for when it will form or how it will actually involve residents. Meanwhile, more billion-dollar projects keep getting approved.

West Virginians deserve real, binding input into decisions that reshape their neighborhoods, not a plan that promises a voice while the state moves ahead without them. Sign the petition to demand the state guarantee local communities a genuine say in data center approvals before another project breaks ground unannounced.