Project Tamarack (Starwood Digital Ventures) in West Columbia
Also called: Project Tamarack
A $12 billion data center complex planned near West Columbia in northern Mason County. It would need about 2.16 gigawatts of power from the regular grid. The company says it will use closed-loop cooling and pay for its own grid upgrades. Under the 2025 state law HB 2014, certified projects do not have to follow county or city zoning, noise and similar local rules.
Where things stand: State certified it as a high impact data center in September 2026. No construction date announced.
🕒 Latest update (Sept 3, 2026): Gov. Morrisey announced the $12 billion project and its state high impact data center certification at the Chamber of Commerce Business Summit.
What we know
- 📍 WhereWest Columbia area, about 20 miles north of the Monarch campus (the old Clements State Tree Nursery is not part of the site), Unincorporated Mason County, Mason County
- 🏢 CompanyStarwood Digital Ventures
- 🏛️ Owned byStarwood Capital Group
- ⚡ Power it needs2,160 megawatts (about as much as 1,728,000 homes)
- 🔌 Where the power comes fromPower from the existing Appalachian Power (AEP) grid; the company says power lines are already on the property.
- ❄️ Coolingclosed-loop cooling
- 💵 Cost$12 billion
- 👷 Jobs promised300
❓ Still unanswered
Nobody has answered these in public yet. Can you help find out?
- Exactly which parcels and how many acres are in the site? 🙋 I'll find out
- How much water will it use per day? 🙋 I'll find out
- Will new power lines or substations be needed? 🙋 I'll find out
- When will construction start? 🙋 I'll find out
What happened so far
- Sept 3, 2026Gov. Morrisey announced the $12 billion project and its state high impact data center certification at the Chamber of Commerce Business Summit.
Local votes and rules
📌 Other
After residents pushed for a response about the Monarch data center near Point Pleasant, the county commission sent state lawmakers a letter asking to change HB 2014. It asks that counties get a say on where data centers can go, and that the host county's view count heavily in the state's site score.
An aerial photo of the area.
Where this comes from
- Governor Morrisey announces more than $81 billion in new investment at West Virginia Business Summit · Office of the Governor of West Virginia · Sept 3, 2026
- Second certified data center announced for Mason County · West Virginia Public Broadcasting · Sept 3, 2026
- Starwood Digital Ventures announces data center for Mason County · WSAZ · Sept 3, 2026
- Project Tamarack · Starwood Digital Ventures (project website) · Sept 2026
See something wrong? Tell us and we'll fix it.