Environmentalists unexpectedly begin supporting data centers, as number in state outpaces neighbors

While many Ohio residents criticize data centers for taking over land, forcing Ohioans to spend more money due to their high energy consumption, causing health problems, and dumping wastewater into Ohio’s rivers, environmentalists have suddenly become supportive of data centers in the Buckeye State.

Save Ohio Parks, a non-profit organization that protects parks, forests, and public lands from oil and gas drilling, as well as promotes environmental preservation, public health, and cleaner energy, recently said in its new report that, despite its bad reputation regarding the preservation of the local environment, data centers can positively contribute to the expansion of clean energy, The Columbus Dispatch reported.

“In the clean energy manufacturing sector, Ohio is already leading the field with two major solar manufacturers and significant investments in battery cell manufacturing. Thousands of Ohioans are employed in the growing carbon-free energy sector,” the organization said, the news source reported. “In contrast, Ohio counties with the most fracking for fossil fuels have seen a loss in employment and population since the fracking boom began in 2008.”

Until new regulations are adopted, including a ban on nondisclosure agreements, the organization said it wants a moratorium on data center approvals, according to The Dispatch. The organization added that data centers would need to abide by a requirement to use only utility-scale solar, wind and energy storage sources, the Columbus newspaper reported.

Two additional requirements for the data centers in the state would be paying for “necessary power grid modernization costs to support grid reliability” and complying with “water efficiency measures and public reporting on water use,” the news source reported.

According to the Data Center Map, Ohio has 205 data centers, an incredibly high number, especially if one decides to compare it to how many data centers there are right now in the states neighboring Ohio.

The only two neighboring states that came even remotely close to the number of data centers in Ohio were Pennsylvania and Indiana, 126 and 122, respectively. The others have even fewer data centers. Michigan has 75, Kentucky has 40, and West Virginia has nine.

Residents of Hilliard, Sunbury, and Pickaway counties, among others, opposed building new data centers and suggested that Ohio lawmakers eliminate existing ones. Earlier this year, Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost certified a proposed amendment to ban data centers in the state, and the concerned Ohioans are currently collecting the signatures.

Ohio lawmakers at the state and federal levels have raised concerns about data centers, including U.S. Sen. Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, and State Reps. Tristan Rader, D-Lakewood, David Thomas, R-Jefferson, Gary Click, R-Vickery, and Kellie Deeter, R-Norwalk.