Latest news with #WestVirginiaWatch
Yahoo
15 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
West Virginia: Stop trying to make data centers happen
A giant data center has been proposed to be located between Thomas and Davis, West Virginia, near tourist destinations like Blackwater Falls State Park. (Lori Kersey | West Virginia Watch) When people refer to West Virginia as 'Almost Heaven,' we think of the beautiful, quiet scenic areas like Black Water Falls, Canaan Valley and Dolly Sods, all in Tucker County. However, our lawmakers just see money signs — and not very many of them. Gov. Patrick Morrisey recently signed into law House Bill 2014 — one of his key priorities — which created the state's microgrid program to encourage data centers to come to the Mountain State. Residents in Tucker County are already fighting a proposed data center. A Virginia company, Fundamental Data, has applied for an air permit from the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection for the 'Ridgeline Facility.' It includes an off-the-grid natural gas power plant between Thomas and Davis, which will likely power the giant data center proposed for a site just a mile away from the county's most heavily populated and tourist-attracting areas. A microgrid is a small power plant that is usually attached to a larger national grid, but runs independently to power things like a college campus, hospital complex or, in this case, a data center. West Virginia's new law allows 'high impact data centers' to curtail local zoning ordinances, meaning their microgrids don't have to attach to existing utilities. HB 2014, as requested by Morrisey, originally included provisions that would have required electric utilities with coal fired plants to operate at a higher capacity — 69% compared to 40% — and hold a 45-day supply of coal on hand at all times, while most only stockpile a 30-day supply. Lawmakers saw this bill as an opportunity to boost the state's coal industry, but power companies said it would be difficult to meet those standards. Not only that, but meeting those standards would have raised electricity rates for customers. The bill was amended dozens of times and passed without those standards, and Morrisey signed it into law. Now residents of Tucker County are worried about a proposed data center taking away from the serene beauty of their home. As someone who grew up in Poca just across the river from the coal-powered John E. Amos Power Plant, I understand why you wouldn't want a new one to pop up near your home. It's never quiet — you can hear the beep beep beep of equipment backing up all night and the banging of construction, and when the towers release steam, it sounds like the end of the world (at least it did when I first heard it as a child). And coal definitely keeps the lights on at the plant 24/7. In Virginia, which has the largest data center market in the world, there are local noise and lighting ordinances to protect residents. West Virginia residents won't have the same protections. My dad said during the 1970s, before air pollution was taken more seriously, ash from the John Amos plant would be all over the place in the mornings. Sometime in the 1990s, everyone on our street noticed spots on their cars that messed up the paint. My dad said the air pollution commission ran some tests on the spots that indicated they came from the power plant. It only happened that one time, dad said, but it was worrisome then and it's something to think about now as the Trump administration rolls back environmental regulations. For instance, the Department of Justice has been told to block states from enforcing their own regulations on coal — because President Donald Trump wants to revive 'beautiful, clean coal.' Not only are power plants loud, but data centers are as well. They create noise pollution, typically a low humming sound, which is the cooling system that must run constantly to keep the temperatures down. Many data centers also use a diesel powered back-up system in case they lose power, and those must be tested monthly. These generators can run between 85 and 100 dBA — 85 dBA is when hearing can be harmed. So why are we putting up with this noise? It must be because it'll bring lots of jobs to the state, right? Not likely. Data centers are just buildings full of computers, and are largely automated. You ever wonder where the stuff you save on the cloud is stored, where the computers that make AI art are or where bitcoin is mined? In a data center. Some facilities employ only 50 people. Most data center jobs come from the construction of the facilities, and are often contracted from out-of-state. Aside from data centers not bringing jobs, they could cost ratepayers more money. Virginia has proposed two transmission lines for their data centers, and the lines could cost West Virginians more than $440 million, according to the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis The two transmission lines, both of which cut through West Virginia, were proposed to help with growing demand for electricity from data centers. PJM's transmission cost allocation methodology charges all ratepayers for the transmission infrastructure because it assumes that the 'regional transmission costs could not be attributed to a single new user or class of users.' However the most recent Regional Transmission Expansion Plan processes shows that's not the case. While West Virginia is trying to use Virginia as an example on data centers, the state isn't doing it the same way with regulations and protections. 'What you're going to get if you do it this way is the worst players, the ones that didn't need to be in Northern Virginia,' said Julie Bolthouse, director of land use at Piedmont Environmental Council in Virginia. '… the players that are wanting that lack of regulations because they didn't want to abide by rules and didn't want to or need to protect communities, which is worse for West Virginia and the communities. What West Virginia is doing is not what Virginia is doing.' If lawmakers are serious about bringing data centers to the state, then they need to be serious about the consequences and set better regulations to protect residents who want to enjoy wild, wonderful West Virginia without noise cancelling headphones. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
14-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
West Virginia Watch reporter wins a Dan Rather Medal for her foster care reporting
Amelia Ferrell Knisely joined West Virginia Watch when the outlet launched in July 2023, and has been covering West Virginia's foster care system since 2019. (Amelia Ferrell Knisely | Courtesy photo) West Virginia Watch reporter Amelia Ferrell Knisely has placed second in the Dan Rather Medals for News and Guts competition. Knisely won for her reporting for West Virginia Watch, which 'fought for transparency in West Virginia's overwhelmed foster care system.' For six months, Knisely requested from the West Virginia Department of Human Services documents that show how much the state spent on housing foster children in hotels in 2023. Instead of financial documents, the department sent Knisely a mostly redacted report on children staying in hotels, motels, offices and hospitals between January and October 2023. With that report, she wrote her award-winning article, 'WV agency won't release docs showing where money was spent putting foster kids in hotels.' 'The level of neglect exposed by this reporting is reprehensible,' one of the judges wrote. 'The amount of work it took to get the information, public information, to shed light on this was incredible.' And in the email informing Knisely of her win, John Bridges, a lecturer in journalism at the University of Texas at Austin, where the awards are housed, wrote: 'Indeed, your work was just the kind of dogged reporting that Dan Rather had in mind when he created these awards with the University of Texas.' Knisely original records request was denied, former Gov. Jim Justice's office did not respond to her emails and a then DoHS spokesperson denied her interview request with state child welfare leaders. 'Despite their intimidation, insults and ongoing resistance to answering my questions, I persist and have a great newsroom behind me.' Knisely told the Dan Rather Medals for News and Guts. 'I'm still covering foster care and will continue to do so. These children deserve it.' Knisely joined West Virginia Watch when the outlet launched in July 2023. She has been covering West Virginia's foster care system since 2019. Over the years, she's spoken with foster children abused in out-of-state facilities, child protective services workers who can't keep up with caseloads, biological parents who want answers and foster parents who feel lost in a complex system. She's written about state leaders' attempts — or lack thereof — to fix the problems, and spotlighted organizations helping vulnerable children. Read her foster care reporting for West Virginia Watch here. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
14-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Attorneys suing over WV's troubled foster care system seek to review lawsuit, request new judge
The West Virginia Department of Human Services, located at One Davis Square in Charleston, (Lexi Browning | West Virginia Watch) A group representing children suing the state of West Virginia over its troubled foster care system wants the lawsuit revived after a judge tossed the case in February. A Better Childhood, a nonprofit legal advocacy group based in New York, is also seeking a new judge to preside over the class-action lawsuit, according to a filing on Tuesday. 'We're asking to get the decision reversed, and we're asking to get the judge off the case,' said Marcia Lowry, the organization's executive director. 'We continue to think this is a very serious and unconstitutional situation.' The 2019 lawsuit brought by foster children sought to address pervasive issues in West Virginia's overburdened child welfare system, including a shortage of Child Protective Services workers and safe homes for children. Kids were left to linger in the system for years with no plans for permanent homes or ending up in abusive group homes, the lawsuit said. In his dismissal of the case, U.S. District Judge Joseph R. Goodwin didn't deny problems still persist, but said the situation couldn't be fixed through the courts. 'This court cannot take over the foster care system of West Virginia,' Goodwin wrote in an opinion dismissing the case, adding that it was an 'unsatisfying result' to years of litigation. 'I know that there are children who deeply suffer in the custody of the state,' he continued. 'West Virginia's foster care system has cycled through inaction, bureaucratic indifference, shocking neglect and temporary fixes for years. The blame squarely lies with West Virginia state government.' Lowry said that Goodwin failed to rule on underlying issues in the system and has 'firmly-held beliefs against institutional reform litigation.' 'The first thing he's supposed to do is decide liability. This judge has made it clear that he does not think that, regardless that there are serious problems in the system, he still can get relief. In our view, that is wrong,' she said. 'In the interest of justice and fairness, we think the case should go to a judge that doesn't have such firmly-held beliefs.' Additionally, Lowry believes the suit should continue, saying a court ruling in the case is likely to address children's needs. The lawsuit asks the courts to mandate that the Department of Human Services place children in safe homes or facilities, receive necessary services and more. They're also asking for an outside monitor to 'conduct record reviews as necessary to ensure compliance.' 'No doubt, institutional reform of a state agency is a daunting and arduous task,' the filing reads. 'Federal courts have a constitutional duty to confront that task, not to shy away from it.' Shafer and Shafer, a West Virginia-based law firm, and Disability Rights West Virginia are also plaintiffs in the case. DoHS did not immediately return a request for comment. Prior to Godowin's dismissal order, the agency sought to have the case thrown out, citing improvements to the system that included hiring more CPS workers. The lawsuit was previously thrown out in 2021 then revived by an appeals court in 2022. In 2023, U.S. District Judge Thomas E. Johnston recused himself from the case after Mountain State Spotlight, a nonprofit newsroom, pointed out ethical concerns regarding Johnston's communication with lawmakers and the former Department of Health and Human Resources about legislation impacting foster care and possibly the lawsuit. Public information available through the State Auditor's website shows that DoHS has paid more than $8 million to Brown and Peisch, a law firm in Washington, D.C. that has provided the state's legal counsel in the case since 2020. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
13-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
‘We're collateral damage' — WV school district hires attorney to review Morrisey's vaccine mandate
Inside a Kanawha County elementary classroom in West Virginia. (Lexi Browning | West Virginia Watch) A West Virginia school district is hiring an attorney to sort out who has the authority to set school vaccination polices — is it the governor, the Legislature or the state health department? It's the tip of the iceberg for legal questions and likely court challenges as county school boards and the state board of education are grappling with how to handle Gov. Patrick Morrisey's executive order mandating that public schools permit religious and philosophical exemptions to the state's strict school immunization rules. The state's vaccine laws remain unchanged after the GOP-led House of Delegates voted down a broad vaccine exemption bill, and other attempts to revive the legislation failed, as well. Lawmakers who voted down the measure cited constituents' pleas for upholding vaccine laws during a wave of measles cases. 'I think we're collateral damage,' said Ohio County School Board President David Croft, adding that the school district will have outside counsel determine before the end of the month if the state's immunization laws or the executive order should take precedence. 'Our goal, and I hope the rest of the state follows, is to understand that the issue is not if a single board member is or is not in favor of vaccinations. But it is trying to [do] their duties as a county board of education member appropriately by following West Virginia laws,' he said. Morrisey says that, regardless that the state immunization laws remain unchanged, public schools must comply with his executive order, citing a 2023 religious freedom law as its legal justification. While some private schools say they won't comply, parents have already begun requesting a religious exemption to vaccine rules from the state health department. 'It's a complex legal analysis that has to be done here,' said Croft, who is an attorney. He said the analysis will have to look at kids' constitutional rights to a safe education versus religious freedom, along with a disagreement between the executive and legislative branches of government. 'Our goal at the end of the day is to put our kids in the best position we can — and our teachers,' Croft added. The issue is likely to end up before a judge ahead of next school year. Croft noted that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, which could preside over a possible challenge, already ruled in a 2011 lawsuit involving a Mingo County student that the state's vaccines laws were constitutional and did not overly burden a parent's right to free exercise of religion. The push to edit the state's vaccine laws has been spearheaded by Sen. Laura Chapman, R-Ohio. She was the lead sponsor of a bill earlier this year that would have allowed religious exemptions for school vaccine requirements and revised the existing medical exemption process. Chapman, a mother and attorney, said she wholeheartedly supports Morrisey's executive order regarding religious exemptions. 'Gov. Morrisey's executive action is well-grounded in law based on the Equal Protection for Religion Act, which protects against government discrimination against a sincerely held religious belief,' she said. Prior to the executive order, West Virginia was among five states that didn't allow exemptions to school vaccine requirements based on religious or philosophical beliefs. State laws only allowed medical exemptions. 'We are one of the most religious states in the nation and we unfortunately are lumped in with liberal states like California and New York,' Chapman said. 'Each of our surrounding states offer a religious exemption and the [Centers for Disease Control] numbers are sub-herd immunity levels. There is no reason to believe West Virginia will be any different. Ultimately, a family should not be required to give up their religious beliefs in order to go to our fantastic public and private schools.' Del. Shawn Fluharty, D-Ohio, was among the House's no votes on changing the state's vaccine laws. The bill was voted down 42-56 in March. 'We elect public officials to pass public policy, we don't elect kings and queens,' Fluharty said. 'This session, public officials listened to their constituents, medical professionals and experts by rightfully voting down this bad public policy. It's a shame the governor and his handlers want to circumvent this process.' On Wednesday, the West Virginia school board will discuss religion exemptions from school vaccinations, according to their agenda. State Schools Superintendent Michele Blatt earlier this month issued guidance to school superintendents recommending that students not be allowed to attend schools next year without the required vaccinations. She rescinded the memo at the request of Morrisey and is now working with the governor's office to issue clear guidance to schools about how to comply with the executive order, according to her statement. Del. Hollis Lewis, D-Kanawha, has called on the state school board to maintain its current immunization requirements. He wrote a letter to the board on Tuesday, saying that Morrisey's executive order conflicts with existing statutory law and oversteps constitutional authority. Hollis wrote that the current vaccine law 'protects the health and safety of West Virginia's children, families and communities.' SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
30-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Morrisey signs outage notification, vacancy procedure bills sponsored by WV Dems
A sign in on the front of Gordon Algoe's West Side home asks Mountaineer Gas workers to restore his family's gas service. In November 2023, a gas outage affected about 1,000 residents on Charleston's West Side for weeks. (Lori Kersey | West Virginia Watch) Gov. Patrick Morrisey has approved a Democrat-sponsored bill requiring utility companies to create plans to notify customers of outages and another bill establishing procedure for filling vacancies to state offices. House Bill 3263 was introduced in response to a November 2023 gas outage that left more than 1,000 residents of Charleston's West Side without heat and the ability to cook for weeks. The outage was caused by a 'significant sustained water leak' that infiltrated 46 miles of the company's natural gas distribution system, according to Mountaineer Gas. The bill requires that such communication plans at least include a way of notifying customers in advance of planned service disruptions, methods of communication and include an estimate of the duration and end of the outage. The plans are to be filed with the West Virginia Public Service Commission. The bill is effective July 10. 'We would think that utilities would already be required to effectively communicate with their customers during these types of situations and during outages, whether they're planned or unexpected,' said Del. Mike Pushkin, D-Kanawha, a West Side resident and sponsor of the bill. 'One would think that would already be the law. What we found out in late 2023, is that was not the case. 'The rate payers, the customers over on the West Side, were not well informed,' he said. 'We were getting our information from the media. We weren't getting updates from the utility.' Pushkin originally introduced the bill during the 2024 legislative session. It had unanimous support in the House, but stalled in the Senate, he said. The bill codifies a requirement the Public Service Commission already has for utility companies. In an October 2024 order, the PSC mandated that the utility companies and cable companies have text and email messaging in place to notify customers of outages. The legislation is one of two with Democratic lead sponsors that Morrisey signed this year, Pushkin said. The governor also signed Senate Bill 586, which requires that when filling vacancies of state officials, justices, judges and magistrates, the appointment be made from the same party that originally held the seat at the time of election, not the party to which the official may have switched before he or she resigned. 'This is a bill about fundamental fairness and ensuring the will of the voters, and not the party in power, is reflected in filling vacancies in the Legislature,' bill sponsor Joey Garcia, D-Marion, said in a news release. The bill has been called the 'de Soto bill,' a reference to Joseph de Soto, whose seat in the House of Delegates was vacated after he was arrested on charges of threatening to harm and kill lawmakers. De Soto was elected in November as a Republican then switched to the Democratic party hours before he was arrested. Morrisey appointed a Republican to the seat. The Democrats filed a legal challenge, arguing that House Republicans didn't follow the proper Constitutional procedure in vacating his seat and that there was legal precedent that the seat should go to Democrats due to de Soto's party switch. In 2014, former Sen. Daniel Hall switched parties from Democrat to Republican just days after the election, shifting the control of the body to the GOP. He resigned from the Senate in December 2015, leaving some questions as to which party should fill the seat. The next year, the state Supreme Court ruled that Republicans should replace Hall. 'The Supreme Court got it wrong in 2016, when they ignored the will of the voters in their decision to allow Daniel Hall's seat to go to a Republican, ignoring the fact that Hall was elected as a Democrat,' Pushkin said in a news release Wednesday. 'The Republicans in the Legislature got it wrong in 2018 when they codified this bad decision into law because it benefited them politically to do so. We knew it was a bad law when earlier this year the Republicans twisted themselves into knots in order to ignore the law they passed in 2018 so they wouldn't have to fill the vacancy they created in House District 91 with a Democrat. We applaud Sen. Garcia for righting this wrong and restoring the voice of the people to this process.' SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
