The Daily Dig
Google has purchased land in Putnam County, West Virginia, and received state approval for a multibillion-dollar data center campus. Governor Patrick Morrisey made the announcement on March 27, 2026.
The project is still at an early-stage. Land parcel size, exact location, and planned capacity have not been disclosed. Google representatives are expected to meet with local officials as planning continues.
Google will cover 100 percent of the facility's electricity and absorb all costs for electrical, water, and sewer upgrades, with none of those costs passed to residential ratepayers. The company has also pledged to replenish 120 percent of the water it consumes across its operations by 2030.
Based on comparable Google campuses in other states, the project is expected to generate thousands of construction jobs and hundreds of permanent positions. No site-specific figures have been released.
Project Snapshot:
Developer/Owner: Google
Project Type: Data Center Campus
Location: Putnam County, West Virginia
Region: Western WV, between Charleston and Huntington
Project Value: Multibillion-dollar (exact figure not disclosed)
Status: Early-stage; land purchased, High Impact Data Center Project approval received
Electricity: 100% covered by Google
Infrastructure Costs: Google covering all electrical, water, and sewer upgrades
Water Commitment: 120% replenishment target by 2030
Workforce Impact: Thousands of construction jobs and hundreds of permanent positions expected (based on comparable Google campuses; no site-specific figures released)
Enabling Legislation: West Virginia House Bill 2014
State Energy Strategy: 50 by 50, targeting 50 GW generation capacity by 2050
TheJobWalk Thoughts
No GC named, no scope defined, no timeline confirmed. The procurement window is not open yet, but Google's data center builds move through pre-construction quickly once they gain traction. The contractors already known to the development team when that happens are the ones who get the calls.
Putnam County does not see projects at this scale often. When that kind of volume hits a smaller market, local labor and material capacity gets absorbed fast. Civil, electrical, and mechanical subs in the region should be tracking this now.
Google absorbing all utility upgrade costs removes a variable that commonly stalls or kills large projects in secondary markets. That gives this project a cleaner path to breaking ground.
