Wheeling City Council has approved a binding memorandum of understanding with Silicon Foundry Energy LLC that places a 90-megawatt ceiling on the company’s proposed data center project in the Warwood neighborhood. The agreement prevents the development from becoming a state-defined high-impact data center, a distinction that carries significant consequences under West Virginia’s recently established regulatory framework. The agreement ties the project’s maximum power capacity to the city’s plans to establish or extend a Tax Increment Financing district at the former Centre Foundry property. City officials have described the agreement primarily as a mechanism that protects Wheeling’s ability to establish or extend a Tax Increment Financing district around the property. The vote followed weeks of public debate over the project, including concerns about electricity consumption, noise, environmental effects and the long-term implications of bringing large-scale computing infrastructure into an established neighborhood.

The 90-megawatt figure matters because West Virginia law places facilities at or above that aggregate critical information-technology load into the high-impact category. That classification can shift substantial regulatory authority toward the state and affects whether a Tax Increment Financing district can operate where such a facility is located. Wheeling’s agreement establishes a contractual commitment requiring Silicon Foundry to keep the facility below the 90-megawatt threshold, helping preserve local regulatory authority and the city’s ability to pursue its planned TIF strategy.  The distinction also gives the MOU significance beyond a conventional development agreement because the electricity ceiling becomes linked to municipal financing and regulatory jurisdiction. The city has said the agreement does not itself create a promise of tax benefits for Silicon Foundry, while the company has agreed to avoid pursuing high-impact certification.

The MOU Links Power Demand to TIF Financing

Mayor Denny Magruder presented the agreement as a straightforward exchange involving the project’s electricity ceiling and the city’s financing options. “The MOU was to outline the fact that by Silicon Foundation signing the MOU, they assure us that they will never go above 90 megawatts,” Mayor Denny Magruder said. “So they’ll never become a large data center. And in return, the city has a right to create a TIF district or extend a TIF district, which results in some financing capabilities for us.” His explanation places the agreement within a financial-development framework rather than describing it as a comprehensive environmental or quality-of-life regulation. That distinction became important during the meeting because residents repeatedly asked council members to address issues that the MOU does not directly regulate. The agreement instead establishes a contractual commitment around the project’s status while leaving other regulatory questions for separate municipal processes.

The financing mechanism could become significant if Wheeling establishes or expands a TIF district that includes the Warwood property. Under the arrangement described by city officials, the company’s commitment not to cross the high-impact threshold helps preserve the conditions necessary for the city to pursue that financing structure. The MOU also provides a financial consequence if an expansion were to interfere with the city’s TIF position, according to reporting on the agreement. City Manager Robert Herron previously explained that the city requested the commitment from Silicon Foundry as part of its effort to protect future economic-development options. “There have been no representations of TIF benefits to Silicon,” Herron explained. “In fact, TIF regulations wouldn’t be able to be used at this location.”

Council Separates the MOU From Broader Regulation

Council members emphasized during the meeting that residents were asking questions that extended beyond the purpose of the agreement before them. Councilman Ty Thorngate drew a direct distinction between the MOU and the concerns raised during public comment. “But I think it’s important to note that the MOU is for creating a TIF district, and not so much to address the concerns you guys have brought up today,” Councilman Ty Thorngate said. His statement clarified that the MOU was focused on creating the TIF district rather than addressing the broader concerns residents raised during the meeting. The decision leaves separate policy questions open, including how Wheeling might regulate future data-center developments that do not fall under the same contractual arrangement.

Councilman Tony Assaro framed the immediate decision around whether the project would operate with the additional commitment contained in the MOU. “We got a choice here,’ Councilman Tony Assaro said. “They’re not going to operate. If they’re going to be operating with these extra guardrails, or if they’re gonna operate without them, what do you want me to do?” His comments captured the council’s focus on the practical effect of securing a binding commitment from the developer. The argument does not eliminate the separate question of whether residents consider the proposed facility acceptable, but it explains why some council members viewed the agreement as a mechanism for establishing a defined constraint.

Wheeling Wants Broader Data Center Guardrails

Magruder indicated that the council does not view the MOU as the final word on data-center policy in Wheeling. “We want to develop guardrails so that future developments, we can control what happens,” Magruder said. The comment points toward a second stage of policymaking that could extend beyond Silicon Foundry’s specific agreement.The city is separately working on an ordinance to address data centers, with Councilman Dave Palmer saying officials hoped to have it ready before the 2027 legislative session. The MOU establishes a project-specific commitment, while the city’s separate ordinance process is intended to address data-center regulation more broadly. However, the precise substance, timing and legal structure of those future measures remain separate from the approved agreement.

The distinction is important because West Virginia’s data-center framework limits some aspects of municipal control once a facility reaches the high-impact threshold. The Wheeling agreement attempts to keep Silicon Foundry below that threshold, which preserves a different regulatory relationship between the project and local government. City officials have also said the project remains subject to applicable local authority while it stays below the state-defined level. The MOU itself does not require the city to surrender its legislative, regulatory, zoning, taxing or police powers, according to the agreement described in local reporting. Instead, the document establishes a specific contractual commitment by Silicon Foundry while preserving the city’s ability to exercise powers it can lawfully use.

Wheeling’s Next Test Is What Comes After the MOU

Magruder acknowledged that the council has heard the objections surrounding the project even when the concerns did not determine the vote. “I can assure the folks that council has not been blind to their remarks. We don’t necessarily vote in regard that they wanted, but I think their remarks are being, they’re actually being considered.” That statement captures the political and operational divide surrounding the agreement without changing what the MOU actually does. The city has chosen a narrowly defined contractual tool while leaving broader questions about data-center regulation for future action. Silicon Foundry, meanwhile, now faces a binding ceiling that limits how far the project can scale without creating consequences for the city’s financing strategy.

The council’s approval ultimately leaves three separate tracks running at the same time: Silicon Foundry’s project development, the city’s potential TIF strategy and the creation of broader data-center guardrails. None of those tracks automatically resolves the concerns residents raised about noise, environmental effects or quality of life. The MOU instead establishes a specific contractual answer to one question: how far the project can expand before it enters the high-impact category and potentially disrupts the city’s intended financing structure. The broader policy question remains how Wheeling will regulate future computing projects that do not have the same agreement attached to them. For Silicon Foundry, the 90-megawatt ceiling now becomes a defining condition of the project’s path forward.