Adams County residents back Ohio ballot push to limit data centers

Manchester resident Nichole Gerber and other Adams County volunteers helped push a statewide Ohio amendment that would block construction of data centers with a peak load above 25 megawatts, turning a local land-use worry into a fight over property rights, utilities and zoning power.

The Ohio Ballot Board unanimously certified the proposed constitutional amendment on April 2 after Attorney General certification on March 26, clearing the way for petitioners to gather signatures across the state. Ohio Secretary of State records list the measure as “Prohibition of Construction of a Data Center,” and the campaign now has until July 1 to collect more than 413,000 valid signatures from at least 44 of Ohio’s 88 counties to qualify for the November ballot.

Adams County’s role has been small in population but visible in the organizing. The People’s Defender identified Gerber, Emily Harper, Angel Shelton and Danielle Nicole Kinhalt among the local residents helping with events, signature collection and meetings for the Conserve Ohio effort. Gerber’s involvement reflects a fear shared by many rural residents: that large industrial projects could arrive faster than a county can answer questions about water, power lines, road wear and the character of nearby neighborhoods.

That concern is not abstract. Ohio has about 200 data centers, the fifth-highest total in the country, with many clustered in central Ohio and others in places such as Cincinnati and Cleveland. The Ohio Office of Consumers’ Counsel says a large data center can use as much electricity as 100,000 homes, a scale that explains why opponents are treating the issue as an electric-demand problem as much as a zoning battle.

The proposed amendment would take the next step by putting a hard statewide limit on the biggest facilities. If voters approve it, Adams County landowners and local officials could see fewer options for turning farmland or industrial parcels into high-load data sites, while county governments could lose a tool for courting the tax revenue that often comes with major development. Supporters argue that is the point: to prevent a buildout they believe could strain local infrastructure before communities have a real say.

The campaign also sits against a broader political backdrop. Last year, House Bill 15 allowed some behind-the-meter power arrangements for data centers that can bypass local review, a change critics say weakens county and municipal control. One example cited in statewide coverage was a nearly 73-megawatt fuel cell proposed for an Amazon data center in Hilliard, where residents raised concerns about emissions, neighborhood notice and nearby parks and homes.

With petitions already circulating in 73 counties, the Adams County activists are part of a race against the clock that could end with Ohio voters deciding whether the state should keep welcoming massive data centers, or draw a line before the next wave of projects reaches rural ground.