COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Ohio voters could ultimately decide whether to restrict the development of large, energy-intensive data centers under a proposed constitutional amendment now cleared for signature gathering.
The Ohio Ballot Board has approved ballot language submitted by Ohio Residents for Responsible Development, allowing the group to begin collecting more than 413,000 signatures from at least 44 of the state’s 88 counties by July 1 to qualify the measure for a statewide ballot in November. If the proposal advances, voters would weigh in on whether to limit the construction of new data centers with high electricity demands.
Meanwhile, the Ohio General Assembly is working to create a commission to study the economic, environmental and infrastructure impacts of data centers across the state. Mike DeWine said Ohio must continue evaluating both the benefits and drawbacks of the growing industry.
“We believe that data centers are part of economic growth, but we also know they take a lot of water, they take a lot of electricity,” DeWine said. “And one of the things we've worked with the PUCO (Public Utilities Commission of Ohio) to make sure that they're paying their fair share. When data center comes in, they need to pay their fair share. They shouldn't be driving up the electric rate for other people. So we got to work on that. We got to continue to work on that.”
Ohio currently has the fifth-highest number of data centers in the nation, with roughly 200 facilities.
