When a notice appeared in a local newspaper about a company applying for an air quality permit for a power plant, it set off alarm bells in the small West Virginia town of Davis. After residents realized that a major data center project, enabled by West Virginia’s hastily passed state preemption bill, was being pushed through without anyone knowing about it, the community took action. A coalition of artists, outdoor enthusiasts, and generations-deep mining families formed Tucker United, and we met with them to learn about the state of the fight: why Davis, West Virginia; is the proposed reduction in state income tax and influx of data center revenue actually going to reach the local community; and how do they make sure their voice is heard by local and state government and that corporations are held accountable to them in the face of a politics that is pushing an “abundance” agenda of development with few guardrails?

In this episode, we hear from:

• Linda Bilsens Brolis: Associate Director for Education for the Composting for Community Initiative, who first told us about this story, and lives in Davis.
• Nikki Forrester: Helped launch Tucker United, now serves as the Director of Communications and spokesperson, lives in Tucker County, West Virginia, and is a journalist.
• Mayor Alan Tomson: Mayor of Davis, West Virginia, who was alerted about the project and helped organize the initial town hall meeting that led to Tucker United. He shares what inspired him to move from his life as a career Army Officer in D.C. to Davis.
• Chris Parquet: lead organizer of Tucker United
• Shanae Crossland: member of Tucker United

Welcome to Building Local Power’s “The Data Centers Are Coming,” where we journey to some of the most active places in the cross-country battle over data centers in our local communities. We start at the epicenter: Data Center Alley in Loudoun County, Virginia. This once semi-rural community has now been transformed by Big Tech’s sprawling data centers, sparking a fight for land, autonomy, and transparency from local residents. What does it feel like living there now? How is it impacting home values, affordability, energy and water usage, electric bills, and the overall well-being of the people who live nearby? We took a road trip to find out.

In this episode we hear from:

• Elena Schlossenberg: Our local tour guide, and deeply involved in grassroots organizing in Prince William County and Loudoun County. She has a deep knowledge of land use management and is the Executive Director of the Coalition to Protect Prince William County.
• Greg Pirio: A longtime Sterling, VA resident, Greg’s home literally sits across the street from a Vantage data center. Greg is an artist and has become an unlikely activist, organizing his neighbors to advocate for local solutions and demand accountability for the relentless noise pollution impacting their daily lives.

Welcome to the newest season of Building Local Power, The Data Centers Are Coming, where we take a trip across the country to some of the hot spots for data center fights. Big Tech is racing for AI dominance, attempting to steamroll local communities through secrecy and shell companies, but that’s only part of the story. We hear from activists and agitated neighbors, experts on energy supply and the environment, and tech correspondents chasing these fights across state lines.

Through this series, we start to uncover just how deeply this conflict is steeped in America’s legacy of monopoly corporations versus motivated local communities. And we learn that one thing is certain: the corporate giants behind the data center boom better not underestimate the power of passionate and organized local resistance.