Public forum planned on Adams County data center proposal
Residents still do not know how much power, water and tax relief a proposed Adams County data center could demand. A June forum at Manchester High School may be their first real chance for answers.
Residents, school leaders and nearby property owners still do not know how big the proposed Adams County data center could become, how much infrastructure it would strain or who will make the key decisions if tax incentives come into play. A public forum being discussed for Manchester High School could give them their first direct chance to press company representatives and county officials before the project’s momentum hardens into a done deal.
The discussion picked up after the Manchester Local School District Board of Education meeting on May 13, when board president Troy Thatcher said Adams County Economic Development Director Paul Worley had contacted him about using the Manchester High School gym for a meeting on either June 16 or June 18 from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. The idea is to move the debate out of rumors and secondhand accounts and into a setting where residents can ask questions about land use, utility demand, school revenue and property taxes. The board also adopted a resolution opposing any data-center tax abatement agreement negotiated without direct involvement between the property owner and the Board of Education.
The forum would come after months of public pressure. An Adams County commissioners meeting on February 9 drew an overflow crowd, and a citizen-led town hall in Manchester on February 18 brought dozens of residents who voiced skepticism about proposed data-center development on former power-plant sites. Those meetings showed how quickly the issue has become one of the county’s most closely watched economic-development fights, especially as residents have pressed for transparency, environmental protections and local control.
The project’s scale is what has sharpened the concern. An AES Ohio filing on February 3 said a proposed Adams County data center near the former Stuart power plant could require 1,300 megawatts by 2032, with load growth staged at 100 MW in 2028, 400 MW in 2029, 700 MW in 2030 and 1.1 GW in 2031. WCPO reported the project could use more than 20 times as much electricity as Adams County itself and could power about 1 million homes. Buck Canyon Properties LLC paid $2.65 million in 2024 for the 1,016-acre Buck Canyon site on the Stuart plant’s northern border.
County officials have not publicly approved a formal site plan or incentive request, but Worley has said companies are exploring data-center sites in Adams County and that he has signed two nondisclosure agreements. He has also said the former power-plant properties have the power, water and isolation that data centers seek. WCPO reported he described those needs bluntly: data centers require a lot of power and often a lot of water, and those sites fit the bill. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has already issued a permit tied to the Stuart-area project, with special conditions to protect endangered species and maintain a 100-foot buffer around three cemeteries near the site.
The stakes are higher in Adams County because the closing of the Killen and Stuart power plants in 2018 eliminated 700 jobs and cost Manchester schools $5.5 million in funding. That loss explains why county leaders want a major new investment and why school officials are demanding a seat at the table if tax abatements are discussed. With Ohio lawmakers also advancing proposals in 2026 to study or regulate data-center development, the June meeting could be the first real accountability test for a project that has already reshaped the county’s political and economic conversation.
This article was produced by Prism’s automated news system from verified source data, official records, and press releases, then run through automated quality and moderation checks before publishing. The system is built and supervised by the people who set the standards it runs under. Read our full AI policy.
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