# Putnam County, West Virginia: Power, Data Centers and the Local Economy Home to Hurricane, Winfield and Eleanor Putnam County is a power-producing county: the plants here serve load well beyond its borders. Putnam County is home to Hurricane, Winfield, Eleanor and Buffalo. Construction employs 2,991, up 24.3% since 2019, and construction is 2.5 times as concentrated here as in the U.S. economy. Its power plants have 2,957 MW of capacity, 99% of it coal, the largest fleet in West Virginia. Next door, Kanawha County has 3 data centers. Employers here counted 22,322 jobs in 2025, up 11.5% from 2019 (the 9th fastest growth of 55 West Virginia counties). 2,957 MW of operating power plants, mostly coal 2.5× the U.S. share of jobs in construction +11.5% total jobs since 2019, now 22,322 ## Cities and towns in Putnam County Putnam County is home to Hurricane, Winfield, Eleanor and Buffalo. Hurricane7,367 residents Winfield2,381 residents Eleanor1,497 residents Buffalo1,185 residents Nitro1,053 residents · 17% of the city Poca860 residents Bancroft363 residents - Nitro also extends into [Kanawha County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/west-virginia/kanawha-county). Unincorporated communities (governed by the county): Culloden, Hometown, Raymond City, Teays Valley. Residents are 2025 Census estimates for the part of each city, town or township inside this county. Census publishes no annual estimate for unincorporated communities. ## What changed in Putnam County | Measure | Then | Now | Change | Rank in West Virginia | |---|---|---|---|---| | Population (2020 → 2025) | 57,441 | 56,885 | ▼ 1.0% | 10th of 55 by size | | Total jobs (2019 → 2025) | 20,017 | 22,322 | ▲ 11.5% | 9th of 55 by growth | | Average annual pay (2019 → 2025) | $54,098 | $68,219 | ▲ 26.1% | — | | Construction jobs (2019 → 2025) | 2,407 | 2,991 | ▲ 24.3% | 7th of 26 by growth | | Unemployment rate (2019 → August 2026) | 4.5% | 3.4% | ▼ 1.1pts | — | | Generating capacity added since 2019 | — | 0 MW | | — | | Generating capacity retired since 2019 | — | 0 MW | | — | Unemployment was 3.4% in August 2026, against 4.5% in 2019. Appalachian Power Co is the largest utility serving Putnam County. Its residential customers paid an average 16.77¢/kWh in 2024, above the 15.35¢ median for West Virginia utilities. 56,885 people live here, down 1.0% since 2020, 10th of 55 West Virginia counties by population. ## Who powers Putnam County ### Utilities with service territory in Putnam County | Utility | Ownership | Service | Residential customers (systemwide) | Residential price, 2024 | Commercial share of sales | |---|---|---|---|---|---| | Appalachian Power Co | Investor Owned | Bundled | 348,946 | 16.77¢ | 27% | Customer counts, prices and sales shares cover each utility's whole system in the state, not only this county. Commercial sales include data centers. ### Operating power plants | Technology | Capacity | Share | |---|---|---| | Coal | 2,933 MW | 99% | | Hydro | 24 MW | 1% | | Largest plants | Owner | Technology | MW | Since | |---|---|---|---|---| | John E Amos | Appalachian Power Co | Coal | 2,933 MW | 1971 | | Winfield | Appalachian Power Co | Hydro | 24 MW | 1938 | ## The Putnam County labor market | Industry (2025) | Jobs | Average pay | Concentration vs U.S. | |---|---|---|---| | All industries | 22,322 | $68,219 | 1.00 | | Construction | 2,991 | $90,131 | 2.53 | | Data processing and hosting | 4 | $109,095 | 0.06 | Concentration is the BLS location quotient: 1.0 means the industry holds the same share of local jobs as it does nationally. Industry rows count private employers; cells BLS suppresses are left out. ## Data centers and local rules in Putnam County No data center, local measure or delayed project is on record in Putnam County. West Virginia has 0 local measures on record statewide. ## Putnam County and its neighbors Of the 5 counties that border Putnam County, Mason County carries the most build-out activity: data centers, planned generation and operating plants combined. [[[[[ | County | Population | Jobs since 2019 | Operating MW | Planned MW | Data centers | Local measures | |---|---|---|---|---|---|---| | Putnam County | 56,885 | ▲ 11.5% | 2,957 MW | — | — | — | | Cabell County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/west-virginia/cabell-county) | 91,183 | ▼ 0.8% | — | — | — | — | | Jackson County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/west-virginia/jackson-county) | 27,450 | ▼ 13.1% | 192 MW | — | — | — | | Kanawha County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/west-virginia/kanawha-county) | 172,381 | ▼ 0.6% | 29 MW | — | 3 | — | | Lincoln County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/west-virginia/lincoln-county) | 19,177 | ▲ 14.2% | — | — | — | — | | Mason County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/west-virginia/mason-county) | 24,707 | ▲ 27.7% | 1,300 MW | 29 MW | — | — | ## More of West Virginia [All West Virginia countiesThe state power page and county mapOpen →](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/west-virginia)[Kanawha County172,381 peopleOpen →](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/west-virginia/kanawha-county)[Cabell County91,183 peopleOpen →](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/west-virginia/cabell-county)[Jackson County27,450 peopleOpen →](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/west-virginia/jackson-county)[Mason County24,707 peopleOpen →](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/west-virginia/mason-county)[Lincoln County19,177 peopleOpen →](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/west-virginia/lincoln-county) ## Putnam County, answered from the record ### Who provides electricity in Putnam County, West Virginia? 1 utility has service territory in Putnam County in the EIA-861 2024 report: Appalachian Power Co. The largest, Appalachian Power Co, charged residential customers 16.77¢/kWh on average in 2024. ### What power plants are in Putnam County? 2 operating plants with 2,957 MW of capacity. The largest is John E Amos (2,933 MW, coal). ### Are there data centers in Putnam County? The SAVRN Data Center Map has no data center in Putnam County. The nearest activity on record is next door in Kanawha County. ### Is Putnam County adding jobs? Employers counted 22,322 jobs in 2025 against 20,017 in 2019 (+11.5%, BLS QCEW). Construction went from 2,407 to 2,991. ### Does Putnam County have a data center moratorium? No county-level measure is on record for Putnam County. West Virginia has 0 local measures statewide, listed on the state page. --- Canonical: https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/west-virginia/putnam-county Updated: 2026-10-08. Refreshed weekly by SAVRN from EIA, BLS, BEA, Census and the SAVRN trackers. License: CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).