Ohio Becomes Silicon Valley's Data Center Dumping Ground

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A grassroots effort is underway in Ohio to stop the construction of more power-and-water-guzzling data centers, which are being built at a rapid pace across the state. Critics argue these data centers, operated by tech giants like Amazon, Facebook, Google, and Microsoft, are stripping rural Ohio of resources while providing few local jobs. They are pushing for a statewide ballot measure to ban the construction of large data centers, but face an uphill battle against the deep pockets of the tech industry and Ohio's restrictive ballot initiative process.

Why it matters

The proliferation of data centers in Ohio raises concerns about the environmental impact, with the centers consuming massive amounts of electricity and water. There are also worries that the data centers could be used for surveillance of local residents. The battle over data centers is part of a larger struggle to protect rural Ohio communities from being exploited by outside interests.

The details

According to the Ohio Office of Consumers' Counsel, Ohio is a 'Top 5' state for data centers, with around 200 currently operating. The state and local governments have provided roughly $2.5 billion in tax incentives to lure these data centers between 2017 and 2024. However, critics argue the centers have a limited number of permanent jobs and guzzle enormous amounts of resources. The Ohio Environmental Council reports that U.S. data centers used an estimated 176 terawatt-hours of electricity in 2023 - more than the entire state of New Jersey - and accounted for about 4% of national electricity demand, a figure projected to rise to 6-12% by 2028. Hyperscale data centers can also use up to 5 million gallons of water per day, roughly the same as 12,000 people.

• The effort to get a data center ban on the November 2026 ballot faces a July 1 deadline to collect 418,487 valid signatures from voters in at least 44 of Ohio's 88 counties.
• Ohio's Public Utilities Commission will play a key role in determining whether the enormous costs of power plants to supply data centers are shifted onto the bills of residential electricity customers.

What they’re saying

What’s next

The backers of the 'Prohibition of Construction of a Data Center' ballot measure face an uphill battle to collect the required 418,487 valid signatures by the July 1 deadline. Meanwhile, the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio will play a key role in determining whether the costs of powering data centers are passed on to residential electricity customers.