A group of rural Ohioans concerned about huge data centers popping up around the state want voters to decide whether they should be banned.
The group turned in a petition to the Ohio Attorney General's office, banning a specific class of data centers.
“The data centers won't be able to use more than 25 megawatts," said Danielle Kinhalt, one of the group that calls itself Adams County for Responsible Development. "Really, the data centers we just don't want the mega AI data centers.”
Kinhalt said the group tried to talk to local officials about their concerns but were told they couldn't get details because of non-disclosure agreements. She said the same issues were happening for residents in nearby Brown County, said Kinhalt in an interview. A Facebook group and this petition are the result.
"We felt like our local government was just wasn't listening to us and giving us any answers at all. With the NDAs, they just kept saying they don't know anything and then we see people on the property doing their due diligence. Our commissioners, our economic developer, no one would give us any answers," Kinhalt said. "So we ended up getting hooked up with the other group and an attorney and we decided we was gonna have to go through the state."
Kinhalt said the members of Adams County for Responsible Development are worried about land and water usage by big data centers.
She said she's upset about a general permit the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency is considering related to the huge water needs of data centers.
"It has been determined that a lowering of water quality of various waters of the state associated with granting coverage under this permit is necessary to accommodate important social and economic development in the state of Ohio," the draft permit said.
"The biggest concern for me personally is that right now, the EPA is working on lowering regulations for the discharge water and anything that has to be lowered to be discharged. I'm already not happy with the water the way that it is now," Kinhalt said.
And while many of these facilities are looking at siting where power plants used to be, Kinhalt said there's concern about the use of these huge tracts of land: "That's a lot of acres to just give up to technology."
Ohio has around 200 data centers, and a report released by the Ohio Chamber of Commerce said they're responsible for more than 95,000 jobs as of 2024. But critics including the Ohio Consumers' Counsel have said they create few permanent jobs.
“Once the facility is up and running, it's max, like, 50 jobs, and they're coming in wanting these huge tax breaks," Kinhalt said. "Besides the temporary construction jobs, I just, I don't really see any benefit for us.”
Attorney General Dave Yost has until March 26 to determine if the group's petition is accurate. If he gives it the green light and it's approved by the Ohio Ballot Board, the group would have to gather 413,446 valid signatures by July 1 to make the ballot.
