Hope is Back 
in West Virginia

You may have heard about the incredible announcement in Pittsburgh recently where global technology and energy industry leaders came together with President Trump to unveil a series of investments that may near $100 billion in data center and power plant projects.

These types of projects offer significant benefits to the areas where they locate, beyond the initial investment. They foster job growth, increased tax revenues, improved infrastructure, technological ecosystem development, and enhanced digital service performance, all while minimizing strain on local community resources.

To say this will significantly enhance the economic trajectory of the tri-state region including southwestern Pennsylvania and parts of West Virginia and Ohio is an understatement.

What’s made abundantly clear through this announcement is that data center developers have realized they should locate these massive, power consuming facilities in locations that offer the rich and plentiful energy resources they need. That makes our region — West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Ohio – the ideal location globally for powering the technology and AI revolution.

West Virginia has the resources, infrastructure and workforce to take advantage of this generational opportunity.

Our state has about 39 trillion cubic feet of natural gas reserves as of the end of 2021, representing approximately one-tenth of the nation’s total shale gas reserves.

In terms of current production, West Virginia produced approximately 3.2 trillion cubic feet of natural gas in 2023, making it the fourth-largest producer in the United States and accounting for about 7.6% of total U.S. production.

Our coal reserves and fleet of coal-fired power plants offer always-on, 24/7 power.

We have the infrastructure in place to take the minerals from the ground and transport them to where they’re needed. We also have access to unlimited amounts of water, a necessary ingredient to control the heat generated by servers and other IT equipment.

And our workforce, boy oh boy. West Virginia offers the most highly skilled, trained and experienced energy workforce in the world. West Virginians know how to make and build all things energy. We’ve been pumping natural gas, mining coal, and operating power plants for more than 100 years.

Our parent company, Hope Utilities, owns and operates regulated natural gas distribution companies in West Virginia, Ohio, North Carolina and Indiana. Across our service area, the reason we come to work each day is to create value for the communities and customers we serve. We provide an essential role of building the pipeline infrastructure that feeds the energy to the power plant and the data center.

Hope Gas has proven its ability to support partners and communities in making these projects come to life. In West Virginia, we built the Morgantown Connector, a 30-mile pipeline, to ensure one of the fasting growing areas of the state has access to reliable and redundant energy capacity.

We’re investing billions of dollars in the Mountain State with the goal of maximizing our natural gas resources for the future of West Virginia. We are creating the next generation energy workforce and providing family-sustaining jobs to state residents.

We are pursuing similar investments in the Buckeye State through our sister company, Northeast Ohio Natural Gas Corporation. The company will play a key role in delivering energy to the Mega Site project at the Honda-LG battery plant, the largest manufacturing project in Ohio.

Like West Virginia, Ohio is poised to benefit from investments to support data centers. We are committed to adding to those investments through infrastructure upgrades and other community investments.

President Trump’s mantra of “drill baby, drill” is leading to “build baby, build.” Where there is energy production, there is potential for significant investment. The connection between local energy production and economic development is clear.

I believe this is just the beginning of the renaissance for our region. In addition to data center development, this is where manufacturing belongs. Manufacturers need energy and lots of it.

We will do our part to ensure that our customers in West Virginia and Ohio, and in our other operating areas, benefit from the colossal technology buildout underway.

Noone else, nowhere else in the world has all the ingredients to meet the important needs of the AI revolution like we do. Energy is our competitive advantage, and so are our people.

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Originally published on WV News July 23, 2025