Ohio lawmakers are launching a joint data center committee where they will invite data center workers, citizens, and companies like Google and Meta to come in and testify.
Ohio state Rep. Adam Holmes, R-Nashport, and Ohio Senator Brian Chavez, R-Marietta, will be co-chairs of the committee.
The committee will include Ohio reps. Thad Claggett, R-Licking County, Heidi Workman, R-Rootstown, and Chris Glassburn, D-North Olmsted. Ohio Sens. Bill Reineke, R-Tiffin, Shane Wilkin, R-Hillsboro, and Willis E. Blackshear Jr., D-Dayton, will also be on the committee.
“The mission of this committee is to ensure that Ohio citizens have accurate, relevant and usable information concerning the economic, environmental, and security impacts of Ohio data center development,” Holmes said.
The committee’s first two meetings will be May 27 and May 28 with the plan going forward to have at least one meeting a week, Chavez said.
“We’re going to go until we get to a natural breaking point, and then we’ll let the information disseminate,” he said.
“We intend to get this information out to council trustees, county commissioners, mayors, and concerned citizens. We want to make sure that folks are able to get information and be able to have critical conversations with the relevant information.”
Holmes said they have talked to companies like Meta and Google about coming to testify.
“They’re anxious to come,” he said. “I think they have a message they want to broadcast on exactly how they’re handling the concerns.”
Ohio has about 200 data centers, the fifth-highest state in the country. Most of the data centers are in central Ohio. Cincinnati has 26 and Cleveland has 23, according to the Data Center Map.
“Some Ohioans are troubled by reports of exorbitant water use, negative land and wildlife impacts, excessive sound light and electromagnetic emissions and increased local energy costs,” Holmes said.
A large data center can use as much electricity as 100,000 homes, according to the Office of Ohio Consumers’ Counsel.
Data centers used 4% of all U.S. electricity in 2023 and that is expected to grow to 9% by 2030, according to the counsel.
Virginia has a high concentration of data centers and electricity prices there have increased by up to 267% in recent years, according to the Environmental and Energy Study Institute.
“Energy and information are not only the economic drivers for the 21st century; they are also a national security imperative,” Holmes said. “It’s crucial Ohio establishes sound data center development policies that benefit all Ohioans.”
A group of Ohioans are currently collecting signatures to get a data center ban on the November ballot.
The proposed constitutional amendment would prohibit building data centers with a peak load of more than 25 megawatts per month, but the amendment will need more than 413,000 signatures from at least 44 of Ohio’s 88 counties by July 1.
“We’re just trying to get information out so the folks can have critical thoughts and critical conversations,” Chavez said when asked about the amendment.
The Ohio House unanimously passed Ohio House Bill 646, which would create a new data center study commission. The bill is now in an Ohio Senate Committee.
“We took a look at (Ohio H.B. 646), and we felt like this was going to be a much faster process,” Chavez said when asked if this is replacing the data center study commission bill.
“This doesn’t necessarily have to replace it, but it seems to be the quicker vehicle that we’re going to pursue right now.”
Ohio Senate President Rob McColley, R-Napoleon, favors the committee over the bill that would create a data center commission.
“We can be a little bit more prepared to delve deeper into the issues, rather than a commission that’s so broad that it can’t delve very deep into the issues at all,” he said.
Ohio Senate Minority Leader Nickie Antonio, D-Lakewood, is optimistic about the work that will come out of the committee.
“We definitely think that it’s important that we address some of the policy issues and safety issues, the environmental issues and local control issues around data centers,” she said.
Lawmakers in at least 11 states — Georgia, Maryland, Michigan, New Hampshire, New York, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Vermont, Virginia and Wisconsin — have introduced legislation that would temporarily ban data centers.
Originally published by the Ohio Capital Journal. Republished here with permission.