Ohio Power Siting Board approves Licking County power plant for Meta affiliate

The Ohio Power Siting Board has approved the construction of a 250-megawatt natural gas-fired electric generation facility in Licking County, which an affiliate of Meta Platforms plans to use.

The so-called Socrates the Younger Power Generation Facility will operate “behind-the-meter” to serve the electric load of an adjacent data center. It will not be physically connected to the electric power grid.

“For better or worse, data centers are part of that economic conversation,” Keary McCarthy, executive director of the Ohio Mayors Alliance, said in prepared testimony last month to the Select Committee on Data Centers. “They can bring investment and innovation, but they also raise important questions around energy demand, infrastructure capacity, public safety, and land use. These questions are highly local in nature and should remain locally managed.”

Will-Power OH, LLC will build and operate the power plant, which is located on more than 108.6 acres in New Albany, at the southwest corner of Clover Valley Road and Harrison Road NW. Officials said the project will incorporate 116 MW of battery energy storage to accommodate demand fluctuations and mitigate unplanned outages.

Will-Power OH must stick to 36 conditions designed to minimize potential impacts during construction and operation. Sidecat LLC, an affiliate of Meta Platforms, will use the facility’s power.

The construction of data centers and the facilities that power them has been controversial in the Buckeye State, and the breakdowns of supporters and opponents don’t fall along traditional ideological lines.

In prepared testimony last month to the Select Committee on Data Centers, the director of state policy for the Ohio Farm Bureau Federation acknowledged that “data centers may provide some benefits to our country, state, and local areas,” but told lawmakers that the “absence of a robust regulatory framework and long-term planning may lead to unforeseen repercussions.”

“We fully recognize that the technology we use in modern agriculture could not exist without data centers and other related technological advancements,” Evan Callicoat said in prepared testimony. “However, the amount of agricultural land and other resources (water, utility-scale power generation, energy transportation infrastructure, and access to natural gas for on-site, ‘behind the meter’ generation) that are being devoted, or rather committed, to these projects has raised many concerns and questions among our members across the state.

“While development has been centered around Columbus and central Ohio, we have members involved with local governments and site developers looking at major industrial projects in every area of the state,” Callicoat added. “Many are asking if the benefits of attracting data centers at this pace outweigh the costs.”

Concerns about data centers have ranged from water use to eminent domain powers used to secure land to noise.

“As the PJM region expands to meet significant new energy demands, it is imperative that residential ratepayers, small businesses, and local governments are shielded from costs driven by these large-load users,” McCarthy said in his testimony.

“With many Ohioans already facing utility affordability pressures, the General Assembly must ensure transparency and equitable cost allocation,” McCarthy added. “Policy must guarantee that existing consumers are protected as new generation and transmission investments are realized.”