At a glance
- Granville, Hubbard, Piqua, Upper Sandusky and Urbana voted to ban data centers outright, and Conneaut, Defiance, Oregon and Sunbury voted to ban projects with power consumption above 25MW.
- Grove City now requires a public vote on data center projects larger than 50 acres, 20MW or 500,000 gallons of water a day.
- For funds underwriting data center assets, the map now carries a municipal screen that sits ahead of permitting.
Ohio voters passed at least 14 data center bans or other restrictions, the largest number of data center-specific votes in the country, Data Center Dynamics reported.
Granville, Hubbard, Piqua, Upper Sandusky and Urbana voted to ban data centers outright, and Conneaut, Defiance, Oregon and Sunbury voted to ban projects with power consumption above 25MW. Pataskala and Trenton voted to ban large-scale data centers.
Grove City now requires a public vote on data center projects larger than 50 acres, 20MW or 500,000 gallons of water a day. Monroe and Sprigg townships, both in Adams County, voted to adopt township zoning for unincorporated areas, which the report says would give locals greater control over major projects including data centers. Perry requires hyperscale developers seeking tax incentives to set financial guarantees. Ashville voted against a term sheet for two EdgeConneX data centers, and Wilmington voted down the rezoning of four parcels to light industrial.
For funds underwriting data center assets, the map now carries a municipal screen that sits ahead of permitting. A 25MW ceiling closes four Ohio jurisdictions to larger campuses. Grove City puts a public election in front of any project above 50 acres, 20MW or 500,000 gallons a day, and Perry makes financial guarantees a condition of the tax incentives hyperscale developers seek. Both add terms a capital committee has to price before the interconnection and land work is finished.
Moratoria run from 180 days to May 2027
Outside Ohio, North Berwick banned data centers of 25,000 square feet or more. Peru, Wells and Eliot passed 180-day moratoria, Wiscasset a six-month one, and Sabattus a moratorium on projects of 10,000 square feet or 20MW or more that runs until May 2027.
Bloomington passed an advisory moratorium on large-scale projects without a specified length. Morgan County voted to restrict data center construction. Asked whether officials should permit data centers, voters said no in Chouteau, Granite City and Nameoki townships.
The report will be updated as more races are called and votes tallied, which makes 14 a floor rather than a final count.
Reported by the Data centers & fiber desk from Data Center Dynamics. Published . Corrections