Ohio Senate Democrats recently unveiled a proposal that would eliminate tax breaks for data centers, and require them to address grid reliability, energy affordability, and water use as well as ensure a local government’s home-rule authority to reject data center construction proposals.
DAYTON DAILY NEWS INVESTIGATES
The cost of data centers
Massive data centers are proposed to be built across southwest Ohio. Our investigation looks at the cost and consequences of these power-hungry, water-thirsty, tax-supported facilities.
Reporting by London Bishop and Bryn Dippold.
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“We need to ensure that these data centers are not draining resources from local communities,” said state Sen. Willis Blackshear Jr., D-Dayton.
A recent Gongwer-Werth Legislative Poll of the Ohio General Assembly saw 43% of 42 members who took the poll in favor of a bipartisan Data Center Study Commission proposed by Rep. Gary Click, R-Vickery, and Kellie Deeter, R-Norwalk.
That measure, House Bill 646, has strong support among House Republicans, according to Ohio House Speaker Matt Huffman, R-Lima.
The commission proposal is in response to rapid growth of data centers in Ohio “coupled by the growing angst in local communities,” according to a press release announcing the legislation.
“The average Ohioan finds it difficult to discern between fact and fiction and frequently feels unheard,” the release said.
The Gongwer-Werth poll also found half of 42 respondents felt Meta’s plan to build a campus of small nuclear reactors to power data centers in southern Ohio was a “good thing,” including 14% of Democrats and 68% of Republicans.
Asked if the representative would favor a moratorium on data centers in their district, 46% of 41 respondents said yes.
