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Ohio is a “top 5” state for its number of data centers, which currently number around 200.  But that’s a title some in Ohio don’t embrace.  In Ohio’s agricultural and rural communities, some citizens appreciate the technology and economic activity data centers bring while others fear loss of farmland, intensive water use, sales tax exemptions, and impacts on electric infrastructure and prices.  Here’s a summary of recent developments that illustrate the challenges and discord Ohio faces as we determine how to deal with data centers.

1. Ballot initiative for a constitutional amendment on data centers moves forward

Ohio Residents for Responsible Development wants Ohio citizens to determine the fate of data center development in the state.  The group is petitioning for a constitutional amendment on data centers that would go before Ohio voters on the November ballot.  The proposed constitutional amendment would prohibit the construction of any data center with a peak monthly load of more than 25 megawatts.

The Ohio Ballot Board on April 2, 2026 authorized the group to begin collecting the signatures for the ballot initiative. The Ohio Ballot Board approval and an earlier certification on March 16, 2026 by Ohio’s Secretary of State indicate that the group has satisfied the legal requirements for the petition and can begin the signature-gathering phase of the petition process. 

The group behind the initiative is a grassroots organization of citizens whose goal is responsible growth that protects Ohio communities, resources, and local voices. The group now has until July 1 to collect about 413,000 valid signatures from at least half of Ohio’s counties on the petition.  Verification of the signatures collected by the Secretary of State will then determine whether the measure will be on the November ballot.   Read the “Prohibition of Construction of a Data Center” petition language on the Ohio Attorney General’s website, and learn more about ballot measures on the Secretary of State’s website.

2. AEP data center tariff goes before Ohio Supreme Court

The parties have filed their briefs with the Ohio Supreme Court in a challenge to an unprecedented data center tariff by AEP.  The Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO) approved the statewide data center tariff last July.  Backed by AEP, the Ohio Consumers Counsel, the Ohio Energy Group, Ohio Partners for Affordable Energy, and Walmart the tariff aims to prevent the possibility that residential electricity customers will bear the costs of data center development by requiring data centers with a load of 25 MW or more to pay a minimum of 85% of their committed load over a 12-year contract. The approved tariff also requires AEP to end the moratorium it had placed on connecting new data centers.  The Ohio Manufacturers’ Association Energy Group (OMAEG) appealed the PUCO tariff approval, arguing that the tariff is discriminatory.  OMAEG had backed an alternative narrower proposal that would have applied to any electric service agreement for a single location with a load in excess of 50 MW if AEP could prove that the load would create transmission capacity constraints.  All parties filed their briefs in the case by the March 24, 2026 briefing deadline, and we now await a date for the oral arguments before the Court.  Read the briefs and follow the case on the Ohio Supreme Court’s website. 

3. Ohio House passes Data Center Study Commission bill

We’ve reported previously on Ohio House Bill 646, which proposes establishing a commission to study the data center development issue in Ohio.  The Ohio House of Representatives passed a revised version of the bill on March 18, 2026.  The bill would have the Governor, Speaker of the House, and President of the Senate appoint a Data Center Study Commission to examine data center issues and submit a report of findings and any legislative recommendations to the Governor and Ohio General Assembly within six months.  The report must also contain suggested best practices and considerations for local decision-making bodies dealing with data center development.  

The thirteen-member Commission must include persons knowledgeable in data center operations, agriculture, county and township government, rural electric cooperatives, water and environment impacts, municipalities, public utilities and economic development and tax incentives.  The Commission must hold at least four public hearings and examine the following topics related to data centers:

• Environmental impact;
• Effect on the electrical grid, including on behind the meter electric supply and on
• consumer utility rates;
• Water usage, wastewater discharge, 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;
• Any other relevant topics determined by the Commission.

The bill is now before the Ohio Senate and was referred to the Senate’s Financial Institutions, Insurance and Technology Committee on March 25.

4. Other data center bills linger in the General Assembly

Several additional bills addressing concerns with data center development don’t appear to be moving forward quickly.   

H.B. 706 focuses on the infrastructure impacts of data centers and aims to “ensure costs of new infrastructure and grid upgrades needed to serve these facilities are not shifted onto existing Ohio ratepayers.”   The bill would require long-term service agreements of at least 12 years with electric utilities for data center customers, require the Public Utilities Commission to create standards for interconnection practices, load study deposits, and milestone requirements. It would also prohibit utilities from recovering data center costs from other customer classes, set minimum gilling standards, and require financial assurance prior to facility construction.  The bill received its first hearing before the committee on March 4.

A second bill, H.B. 695, doesn’t address data centers directly but instead targets elected local officials who could have knowledge of such developments. The bill, sponsored by Rep. Adam Bird (R- New Richmond) and Rep. Brian Stewart (R-Ashville) would prohibit county commissioners, township trustees, and village mayors and council members from knowingly entering into nondisclosure agreements that prohibit “disclosing, discussing, describing, or commenting on” matters related to official duties, a repeated complaint of citizens.   The bill would make the agreements void and unenforceable and impose civil fines of up to $1,000 on officials who violate the law.” A first hearing before the House Local Government Committee took place on March 11, 2026.

Most recently, Senators Kent Smith (D-Euclid) and Louis Blessing (R-Colerain Township) introduced a proposal to limit sales tax exemptions for data centers beginning on October 1, 2027.  The pair introduced S.B. 374 on March 11, but the bill has not received any hearings since its referral to the Senate Finance Committee on March 25, 2026.  The bill fills a gap left when Ohio legislators declined to attempt an override of Governor DeWine’s veto of a law passed by the legislature last June that would have ended the sales tax exemptions.

Also referred to committee on March 25, 2026 is H.B. 784, sponsored by Rep. Christine Cockley (D-Columbus) and Rep. Crystal Lett (D-Columbus), which would require any data center that withdraws waters of the state to submit monthly and annual data center water consumption reports to the Division of Water Resources.  The bill also contains non-disclosure prohibitions similar to H.B. 695. A third bill also referred to committee on March 25, 2026 is S.B. 381.  Rep. Casey Weinstein (D-Hudson) introduced the proposal, which requires interconnection approval from the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio prior to connecting a data center with a monthly maximum demand of more than 25,000 kilowatt hours.  The bill is now before the Senate Public Utilities Committee.

Stay tuned to the Ohio Agricultural Law Blog for continued legal information on data center development in Ohio.  Also see an analysis of the fiscal costs of data centers from Dr. Gabriel Lade, OSU’s Swank Chair in Rural Urban Policy, though this link to Substack.