DeWine, Ohio lawmakers want legislative action on data centers as Columbus suburb sues Amazon

Gov. Mike DeWine and some state lawmakers addressed the growing number of data centers by either supporting or introducing bills to address them, and a Columbus suburb is fighting Amazon in court.

DeWine, a Republican, told The Dayton Daily News that there’s “more that needs to be done” legislatively, specifically mentioning the letter he and bipartisan governors sent to the region’s grid operator, PJM Interconnection, in which they raised concerns about rising electricity prices caused by data centers.

“I think that data centers are important to the economic development of the state, but we also know they ought to pay their own share, and I think that’s the question. No one wants to see their household rates go up because of a data center, so I think there’s more work that certainly we could do in this area,” he told the publication.

Meanwhile, Democrats in the Ohio Senate said they have introduced several bills that target data centers by requiring their community investments, restricting their water usage, reaffirming local home rule on decision-making about data centers, eliminating their tax breaks, requiring developers to cover infrastructure costs, and imposing greater oversight for their projects, according to The Statehouse News Bureau and The Ohio Capital Journal.

“Data centers bring unique infrastructure, land use, and energy demands,” Senate Minority Leader Nickie Antonio said, according to the Ohio Capital Journal. “We want to make sure that no Ohio community feels compelled to accept a facility that raises their utility costs or strains local resources against the express will of the residents.”

While government officials are working on that, the Columbus suburb of Hilliard is suing Amazon, trying to prevent the company’s plan to build a six-acre plot of 228 natural gas-fed “fuel cell” units that would increase electricity prices for the residents.

“The City of Hilliard is disappointed to not have the opportunity to formally review the project as we would with almost all other new development projects in Hilliard,” Acting City Manager Dan Ralley said in a news release shared with Signal Ohio.

Rally added that “these are the types of issues that should be addressed at the local level,” criticizing state lawmakers’ previous decisions.

“It’s regrettable that state lawmakers have overridden local oversight, particularly since this technology is unfamiliar and new not just to our City, but also the entire State.”

State Sen. Bill DeMore, D-Columbus, one of the lawmakers who opposed the expansion of data centers, used Hilliard as an example while defending his position.

“We have to let local people decide what’s best for their local communities, instead of the state cramming things down their throats,” he said.