Governor Patrick Morrisey of West Virginia signed the Power Generation and Consumption Act, also known as the 'microgrid bill,' into law. This legislation aims to boost certified microgrid development, including both fossil-fueled and renewable energy-powered microgrids, to support the expansion of data centers in the state. The Act, passed alongside House Bill 2002 to simplify project permitting, seeks to make West Virginia a leading state for data centers. By supporting on-site power generation using coal, natural gas, and funding capacity for grid stabilization, the new law is expected to attract data center investments to the state. The Mountaineer hydrogen microgrid project in Mason County is a key initiative, designed to produce carbon-free hydrogen for a 1-GW Monarch cloud-based data center. The project, expected to have a positive economic impact if completed, could create significant job opportunities for the local community and boost the region's economy. With West Virginia's abundant natural gas resources, microgrid projects utilizing hydrogen production from methane gas or electrolysis are well-suited for the state's energy landscape.