Columbus City Council will consider even more regulations that aim to curtail the impact of data centers and other large developments on utility costs and pollution without pursuing a temporary pause, or moratorium.
Council member Christopher Wyche, who chairs the Public Utilities and Sustainability Committee, held a public hearing Wednesday evening to go over a laundry list of legislative initiatives that council could consider. It's the third public hearing held by council in the last year where Wyche hasn't introduced a moratorium on data centers despite very vocal public demand for one.
A recent Bowling Green State University public opinion poll asked voters their thoughts on data centers and the demand for temporary bans. The poll found 78% of the 1,000 likely voters polled strongly favor or favor a temporary ban on the construction of new data centers until more information can be gathered about their effects.
Over 90% of Democrats polled, over 80% of Independents and over two-thirds of Republicans said they favored a temporary ban.
When asked about this poll, Wyche defended his approach.
"The city of Columbus are not facing data centers being built in the city limits. So passing a moratorium would be performative where we're trying to be constructive. We have the ability to create a regulatory framework. That other municipalities in the state of Ohio can copy," Wyche said.
Some of the regulations that Columbus City Council is considering include:
- Developing a new set of water rates, charges or fees for high-load, high-volume water users — including, but not limited to, data centers.
- Creating a plan and rules on how large data centers should be decommissioned.
- Making a water conservation plan for data centers and other large developments.
- Mitigating environmental impacts of on-site energy generation at data centers and other large industrial projects, which is known as "behind the meter" power.
Columbus City Council President Shannon Hardin, who attended the hearing, explained the dilemma the city council is trying to address.
"If we're only charging a mega user, for how much water they use, we're missing the broader point of how much infrastructure they're actually requiring. And if their demand requires us to build more stuff, we need to understand what that stuff costs and they should be the ones to pay for it," Hardin said. "This is about data centers fully covering their own cost and their fair share."
Wyche said that his regulations are trying to address the many data centers that aren't in Columbus city limits, but do tap into Columbus's water system, increasing the need and costs for new infrastructure. A fourth water treatment plant that the city is seeking bids for is expected to cost billions of dollars and could help meet demand created by data centers and new residential growth in the region.
A majority of speakers asked for a moratorium to be put in place, but not all speakers were against data centers, especially a contingent of union leaders and members who spoke.
Sheet Metal Workers Local 24 member Michael Starks, who said he was invited to speak, said getting a job to help construct these projects has provided him a better way of life. He said he's worked on data centers as well as the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center construction projects.
"Data centers have blessed me, put me in a position to take care of my family, and I am aware that the regulations with the power in the water do need to be addressed," Starks said.
Dorsey Hager, with the Columbus/Central Ohio Building and Construction Trades Council, also went to bat for data centers and the jobs they provide. Like Starks, he said council should consideri regulations to address the concerns of residents about rising utility costs and pollution.
"Families and small businesses should not subsidize the power, water or roads required by these large facilities. Developers should pay their own way, bring their own power. And operate under rate structures that protect existing customers on the grid," Hager said.
Hager claims that when regulations are put in place, voter support AI-driven investments like data centers. The BGSU poll found the opposite, that 75% of respondents oppose a data center being built in their own community.
Franklin Township resident Jessica Holes said there should be a moratorium too. She works in Ashville, a village in Pickaway County, where residents have pushed for a direct vote this November on whether a hyperscale data center and a natural gas plant to power it should be allowed to move forward.
"Oversight is simply not enough at this time. Prevention is what is desperately needed," Holes said.
Holes focused largely on the impact of data centers on residents, including pollution.
"Why allow these new facilities that will use and potentially pollute astronomical amounts of water to be approved when we already struggle to meet current demands? The economic gain simply isn't enough to justify putting the health and well-being of residents at risk," Holes said.
No representative for data centers or the industry spoke Wednesday.
The regulation to develop a new set of rates, charges or fees for high-load, high-volume water users like data centers got its first reading before city council this week and could be up for a final vote at the next council meeting.
