Mason United
Mason County
A group formed in response to the Monarch campus, concerned about its environmental impacts, including flooding of neighbors' homes from construction.
No website found. Described by West Virginia Watch.
Monarch Compute Campus
Data center
A very large AI data center campus on about 2,250 acres just north of Point Pleasant in Mason County, with its own natural gas power plant. One data center building will sit on the runway of the former Mason County Airport.
In March 2026, Nscale announced it was acquiring the campus’s original developer, American Intelligence & Power Corp. (AIPCorp), and signed a letter of intent with Microsoft for 1.35 gigawatts of AI computing capacity. Nscale describes the site as the country’s first state-certified AI microgrid. In September 2026 the state certified Nscale’s Monarch project as a high impact data center under HB 2014.
According to the company’s filing with the state Department of Environmental Protection, the first phase is a 2.16-gigawatt, off-grid natural gas power plant using 864 engines. Another 120 engines are planned for emergency power and other uses; most of those burn diesel. The campus could eventually draw about 8 gigawatts.
Construction is in its early stages. In May 2026, one home in the neighboring Meadowlands Estates flooded with water from the construction site. Nscale says it will cover the flood costs and has offered to buy homes in Meadowlands at above-market prices.
This project falls under HB 2014, the Power Generation and Consumption Act.
Key dates
- Nscale announces it is acquiring the developer, AIPCorp, and a letter of intent with Microsoft
- Site preparation begins
- State certifies Nscale's Monarch project as a high impact data center
Local groups working on this
Sources
- Nscale and Microsoft Announce Collaboration with NVIDIA and Caterpillar to Deliver 1.35GW of NVIDIA Vera Rubin NVL72 GPUs at Flagship AI Factory Campus in West Virginia
- Point Pleasant data center: 3 buildings, nearly 1,000 natural gas, diesel engines
- Nscale acquires 8GW Monarch Compute Campus, Microsoft signs on for 1.35GW of compute
- Mason County residents faced with buyout as AI data center campus goes up
- Morrisey hails state certifications for two Mason County data center projects
- New data center project coming to Mason County, WV spearheaded by Florida-based real estate group
Last checked against sources: September 28, 2026