News + Press
News + Press
News + Press
WVDP Blasts “Pay-to-Play Lunches” as Data Center Lobbyists Wine and Dine Legislators While Communities Lose Their Voice
For Immediate Release May 18, 2026
Charleston, WV — West Virginia Democratic Party Chair Mike Pushkin is calling out the growing influence of data center lobbyists at the State Capitol after a luncheon sponsored by lobbyists promoting massive data center development projects across West Virginia was announced during today’s interim meetings at the Capitol.
Pushkin pointed specifically to House Speaker Roger Hanshaw’s financial entanglements with the industry, noting that Hanshaw personally represents two proposed data center projects while is also involved in the sale of land connected to a third project.
“At a minimum, it raises serious ethical questions when the Speaker of the House is pushing legislation that directly benefits companies tied to his law firm and his own personal financial interests,” Pushkin said. “West Virginians deserve to know whether public policy is being written for the benefit of our communities or for the benefit of insiders cashing in on these deals.”
Pushkin also criticized legislation championed by Hanshaw and passed by the Republican supermajority that stripped communities of much of their authority over local control of the massive industrial-scale data center developments.
“These projects can dramatically impact local infrastructure, electric rates, water resources, noise levels, and quality of life,” Pushkin said. “But instead of listening to the people who actually live in these communities, Republican leadership took away local control and handed more power to corporate developers and their lobbyists.”
Pushkin said the contrast between the access given to lobbyists and the lack of transparency with the public speaks volumes.
“The lobbyists are buying legislators lunch in Charleston, but they’re not holding town halls in the communities being affected,” Pushkin said. “Apparently the only people getting a seat at the table are the politicians and insiders eating on the lobbyists’ dime while local residents are left footing the bill.”
Pushkin said West Virginians deserve an open and transparent discussion about the long-term impacts of large-scale data center developments, including energy consumption, environmental impacts, tax incentives, and local infrastructure demands.
“Nobody is opposed to economic development,” Pushkin added. “But West Virginians should not be steamrolled by politically connected corporations operating behind closed doors while lawmakers with financial interests in these projects rig the rules in their favor.”
“The people living in these communities deserve a voice — not just the lobbyists picking up the lunch tab.”
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