The federal government has shared similar concerns, with the U.S. Department of the Interior noting in a recent statement that electricity prices within the PJM market “have risen faster than almost anywhere else in the country.”
Despite the obstacles data centers have posed, DeWine maintains that he doesn’t want to shut them out of Ohio entirely.
“I think that data centers are important to the economic development of the state,” DeWine told this outlet Thursday, “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.”
Under DeWine, the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency is in the midst of considering a general permit that would allow data centers, which use huge amounts of water to cool down their hardware, to discharge their wastewater into Ohio’s streams under certain conditions.
In a document informing Ohioans of the potential permit, the Ohio EPA wrote: “It has been determined that a lowering of water quality of various waters of the state associated with granting coverage under this permit is necessary to accommodate important social and economic development in the state of Ohio.”
The permit is currently under review.
In June, DeWine went against the legislature to veto a line in the state’s 2026 and 2027 operating budget that would have revoked the Ohio Department of Taxation’s authority to offer data centers a reprieve from paying taxes on building materials.
The veto, still in effect, was another instance in which DeWine touted the economic importance of data centers in Ohio.
“Economic development is essential to Ohio’s continued growth and prosperity as the heart of innovation, and the state must stay at the forefront of prospering fields such as technology and artificial intelligence,” DeWine wrote in his June veto message. “The availability of this tax exemption is important as Ohio competes with other states for technology jobs and capital investment. Further, data centers in Ohio have already led to billions in construction work. Therefore, a veto of this item is in the public interest.”
Ohio House Speaker Matt Huffman, R-Lima, told statehouse reporters Wednesday that the House may work to override that veto by year’s end.
“Everybody else has to build a building, they’ve got to pay tax when they go down to the local lumber yard. I don’t know how much lumber is in a data center, but you get the idea,” Huffman said. “So I think we need to consider that veto override.”
Huffman also said there’s been “a lot of support” within his caucus to pass House Bill 646, which would create the state’s first “Data Center Study Commission” within the Department of Development. The legislature’s nonpartisan analysis of the bill says the commission would have to submit a report within six months of incorporation, touching on:
- Environmental impact;
- Effect on the electrical grid, including on behind the meter electric supply and on consumer utility rates;
- Water usage and impact on the local water supply;
- Noise pollution;
- Light pollution;
- Impact on the local economy;
- Impact on farmland;
- Value to national security and the development of artificial intelligence;
- Reports of foreign propaganda intended to create opposition to data centers;
- And any other relevant topics determined by the commission.
H.B. 646 was referred to the House Technology and Innovation committee earlier this month and awaits its first hearing.
Senate Democrats jumped in on the topic on Tuesday with a press conference touting a slate of not-yet-introduced regulations on data centers.
Combined, they said the bills will address electrical grid reliability, energy affordability, and responsible water use, with another proposal to ensure a local government’s home-rule authority to reject data center construction proposals.
Sen. Willis Blackshear, Jr., D-Dayton, said he plans to introduce legislation requiring data centers to prove they will invest in public projects, like community energy or other residential ratepayer upgrades, before they can connect to the grid.
“Communities that host data centers see little direct benefit from having data centers located in their backyard,” Blackshear said. “Million-dollar corporations come into communities and require residential ratepayers to pick their tabs, socializing the costs for data center interconnection.”
The Democrats’ exact proposals were not publicly available at the time of reporting.
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Avery Kreemer can be reached at 614-981-1422, on X, via email, or you can drop him a comment/tip with the survey below.
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