Data centers and local impact

It’s time to be heard about data centers.

The largest data center (rural Utah) has a capacity of 9.7 GW. According to Daily Yonder reporters Julia Tilton and Alexander Mellott, developers are now targeting rural communities where residents may not have the power to fight back. 

Their research shows data centers are also being planned in communities with high poverty and fewer insured residents who lack access to broadband or high-speed internet. 

Data centers pose health risks in communities who can least afford them. “The risks (such as harmful exhaust fumes released from diesel generators) will grow “as the data center building spree continues and the federal government rolls back environmental and health protections,” wrote health reporter Fran Smith for USC Annenberg’s Center for Health Journalism. 

A 2025 report from the Kapor Foundation found Big Tech developers “[choose] vulnerable communities as sacrifice zones.”3

Speaking of Big Brother

FLOCK cameras and ALPR systems4

Automated License Plate Readers (ALPRs or LPRs) are AI-powered cameras that capture your car's make, model, color, and identifying features such as dents, roof racks, and bumper stickers, often turning these into searchable data points.

ALPR cameras collect data on millions of vehicles regardless of whether the driver is suspected of a crime, creating a constitutional loophole that doesn't require a warrant.5

The Fourth Amendment protects people from unreasonable searches and seizures by the government and requires warrants to be based on probable cause and specific details. With expansive surveillance technology, the question is whether an expectation of privacy is being replaced by a warrantless dragnet. 

The West Virginia Fourth Amendment Restoration Act, House Bill 4682, was proposed during the 2026 regular session. Backed by the West Virginia Freedom Caucus, it would ban state and local law enforcement from using certain warrantless, real-time mass-surveillance technologies, including automated license plate readers, facial recognition, and surveillance drones. The bill did not make it out of committee. 

Surveillance initiatives in the Morgantown area

1. Monongalia County Commissioners approved 20 FLOCK cameras, plus software and support, at $60,000 per year under an expected three-year, $180,000 contract. The expenditure came from the Commission's directly distributed opioid-settlement funds and was intended to help address the transport and distribution of illegal drugs in the county.6

2. Staunton, Virginia police chief Jim Williams defended the citizens he serves: “What we are seeing here is a group of local citizens who are raising concerns that we could be potentially surveilling private citizens, residents and visitors and using the data for nefarious purposes. ln short, it is democracy in action.”7

3. Some local law enforcement agencies have given ICE access to citizens’ private data, with leaked data showing thousands of searches done at the behest of federal authorities.8

4. The Morgantown Dominion Post reported the government had subpoenaed data from Google, Meta (Facebook + Instagram), and another technology platform. The purpose was to identify anyone who has criticized the government or ICE activities online.9