Ohio lawmakers introduce legislation to prevent forcing taxpayers to fund data centers

Two Ohio lawmakers announced this week that they will introduce bipartisan legislation to prevent Ohioans from being forced to fund data centers in the state.

State Reps. David Thomas, R-Jefferson, and Tristan Rader, D-Lakewood, said that their bill, which hasn’t been assigned a number yet, will establish minimum statewide standards for electric service agreements with data center customers, ensuring the Ohio taxpayers would not be paying for new infrastructure and grid updates, according to a news release.

The bill was introduced after several other lawmakers, as well as Republican Gov. Mike DeWine, suggested that data centers in the Buckeye State should be regulated, with some raising concerns about problems, such as rising electricity costs and wastewater that can cause rare cancers and miscarriages in the state’s lakes.

“This is a commonsense approach that supports economic development while protecting consumers,” Thomas said in a release. “Data centers are an important part of Ohio’s future, and we want to continue attracting them. At the same time, utilities and regulators need clear rules so that grid investments are planned responsibly and existing customers are not left holding the bag.”

Rader agreed with Thomas, saying that the bill “is about protecting Ohio consumers” because “working families and small businesses should not be forced to pick up the tab for private infrastructure built to serve some of the largest corporate customers in the world.”

“Data centers may bring jobs and investment, but their massive electricity demand can also drive major grid costs,” Rader said in a release. “These standards ensure that if these projects move forward, they do so responsibly, transparently, and without increasing rates for everyone else.”

The lawmakers wrote in the press release that “the proposal builds on consumer protections already being implemented in AEP Ohio’s service territory, through a PUCO-approved tariff,” adding that early results from this tariff structure are “working as designed.”

The bill would allegedly apply those same safeguards across Ohio to ensure that taxpayers do not pay for data centers, requiring data center customers to enter into long-term service agreements with electric utilities before utilities construct dedicated infrastructure.

In addition to that, the bill would prohibit “electric utilities from recovering data center-associated costs from other customer classes,” ensure “minimum contract commitments of twelve years and minimum billing standards,” provide “financial assurance requirements before the construction of dedicated facilities,” and return the “exit payments or unused-capacity charges to customers.”

According to the press release, the bill was supported by both Democrats and Republicans and will be introduced in the following days.