Danielle Fletcher loves her quiet home in Hamilton Township in rural southern Ohio. But, she’s worried that peace might be disrupted by a data center planned right across the street.
“I’ve been pushing my township trustees for meetings, trying to get more information, trying to get a moratorium,” Fletcher said.
Rural communities like hers have become a hotspot for large AI data centers. The state government has rolled out the red carpet for data centers, offering tech companies sales tax exemptions on materials to build data centers in Ohio.
But many local governments across the state are resisting them.
The power to push back differs from township to township. In some places like Preble County in southwest Ohio, data centers have to go through numerous planning commission approvals to move in. But in others, like Fletcher’s Hamilton Township, there are little to no zoning requirements that address the facilities.
Moratoriums take off
Some Ohio communities are implementing temporary bans on the data center industry altogether. Around 18 municipalities are considering or have already enacted moratoriums that pause construction and approval of data centers.
Mark McGrail is a village council member in Lordstown, one of the first municipalities to institute such a ban. He said the community needs more time to research the impact of the industry.
“This is not a simple thing,” McGrail said. “It's not like some guy's coming in and gonna build a warehouse or put in a little manufacturing plant. This is a really complicated business.”
Residents across the state cite a number of concerns from noise pollution, to increased utility bills from the companies’ energy use, to environmental impact from wastewater discharge.
Dan Diorio with the Data Center Coalition said the industry abides by noise regulations and will work with communities to address any concerns. He said tech companies are committed to covering their costs for energy and are building partnerships with utilities to expand energy access. He added many data centers also use closed-loop water systems to avoid discharging water and all centers abide by environmental regulations.
“We're trying to be that responsible and responsive partner in the communities and work to ensure that you know we're bringing all the benefits we can to the communities where the data center industry locates,” Diorio said.
He adds that data centers are economic drivers that can bring in millions in tax revenue. Data centers contributed $931 million in state and local taxes in 2023, according to an industry audit commissioned by the Data Center Coalition. A study by the Ohio Chamber of Commerce Research Foundation found the industry contributed to more than $1 billion in state and local tax revenue in 2024, although only $260 million of that was a direct contribution.
Zoning data centers out
Still, some municipalities, like South Bloomfield, are skeptical. The central Ohio village hasn’t been approached by data center developers but they’re working preemptively to block the industry, after watching backlash to the industry in neighboring communities.
Village Administrator Joe Allen said data centers don't fit the needs of their largely residential community.
“It'd break my heart if we landed [a data center] here. Everybody is selling it like its the greatest thing ever and it's not us, it's not home,” Allen said.
But, the efficacy of these moratoriums is still murky. Lordstown is entangled in a legal battle with a developer after blocking a data center bid. Jerome Township approved data center permits after a moratorium was put into place, according to reporting from the Columbus Dispatch.
Beyond the specifics of those cases, there’s an inherent drawback: Moratoriums are only temporary.
Vienna Township in northeast Ohio is using its pause on data centers to find a more lasting solution: altering its zoning. The township is considering limiting how many decibels of noise data centers can produce or the amount of megawatts of power they can use, said township trustee Phil Pegg.
“We can't just ban an industry. What we can do is regulate it,” he said.
South Bloomfield recently eliminated all areas of industrial zoning, in order to avoid applications from data centers. Even some metropolitan areas are beginning to make changes: Cincinnati is studying data centers in hopes of updating its zoning requirements.
Grassroots organizing
The pushback has grown beyond council meetings and planning commissions. Online organizing on Facebook has led to protests, distribution of “Stop Data Center” signs and increased support for efforts like citizen-led ballot measures, according to Jay Kidd, one of the administrators of the Facebook group “Coalition Against Data Centers in South Ohio”.
He said the Facebook group shares their challenges and successes in their fight against data centers, in hopes of building a roadmap for other communities who want to prevent the facilities from moving in.
“We have to keep meeting. We have to keep annoying them. We have to let city council know that it is their legacies that are on the line,” Kidd said.
There’s a chance residents, like Kidd, could get help from the state in that fight: Ohio legislators have filed a flurry of bills to address data centers. One bipartisan bill proposes a commission to study data centers' impact on communities. Another slate of bills proposed by Democrats could potentially give local communities more power in vetoing the construction of a center.
Regardless of whether these legislative measures are picked up, Fletcher, back in Hamilton Township in Lawrence County, said she will keep showing up at council meetings.
“I don't believe [data centers] are done deals until they are fully built and in operation,” Fletcher said. “I'm still fighting it until the very end.”
