The Ohio House is expected to vote Wednesday on House Bill 646, which would create a Data Center Study Commission to better understand how these projects affect local communities.
“There’s just a lot of angst,” bill sponsor Rep. Gary Click, a Sandusky County Republican, said in January. “Rather than try to fight this out all over the state, it would help to bring people together, hold hearings and get some facts on the table.”
The commission would be made up of lawmakers from both parties and experts in areas like utilities, agriculture and local government.
Over six months, the group would hold at least four public meetings. Two meetings would focus on hearing directly from residents, while the other two would bring in experts to explain how data centers impact the power grid, water use, farmland, noise and local economies.
The goal of this commission, Click said, is to ensure communities have accurate information as more projects are proposed.
The commission would also send a report with recommendations to state leaders.
Wednesday’s vote comes as pushback to large data centers spreads across Ohio. Rural residents worry that large data centers could ruin their farm fields and cannibalize local resources.
“We absolutely need more information about large-scale data centers and emerging technology infrastructure,” Brown County resident Jessica Baker said. “But I need to be very clear: out here, we are not operating on a study timeline. We are in emergency mode.”
Baker is working with a group of people from Brown and Adams counties to put a constitutional amendment on the ballot this November that would ban data centers that use 25 megawatts or more.
If HB 646 passes the Ohio House Wednesday, it will head to the Senate for consideration.
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