Ohio Data Center Ban Measures Pass in at Least 14 Towns

Ohio voters approved data center bans or new restrictions in at least 14 municipalities on Tuesday, November 3, according to unofficial results reported by Fortune. The state had 21 data center measures on the ballot across 18 municipalities, more than half of the 41 such measures voted on nationwide.

The results add to what Fortune counts as 125 local data center moratoriums already in place in Ohio, a state with more than 200 operating data centers and plans for up to $40 billion in AI infrastructure investment by 2030.

Where the Ohio Data Center Ban Measures Passed

Most of the measures targeted “high impact” campuses that draw more than 25 megawatts of power. In central Ohio, all five communities with data center questions on the ballot voted against the projects. Sunbury appears to have passed a charter amendment banning data centers of 25 MW or more, aimed at a possible hyperscale Amazon project, and Pataskala approved a similar charter ban.

In Trenton, a ban passed 80% to 20%. Local organizers hope it keeps out an 18-building Amazon Web Services campus, although a separate four-building AWS site already under construction nearby is likely unaffected.

Other towns chose restrictions rather than outright bans:

• Perry: more than 87% of voters backed a rule requiring developers who seek tax breaks to give the village financial guarantees.
• Wilmington: about 80% of voters rejected four rezonings meant to make room for a data center project.
• Ashville: residents voted to block a data center campus that is already under construction.

Results in Oregon were not yet available as of midnight local time, and all figures remain unofficial until county boards certify them.

Meta’s Piqua Project Now Faces an Uncertain Future

One of the most closely watched votes came in Piqua, where a planned Meta data center on about 607 acres had divided the city. Voters approved a charter amendment banning data centers with a peak load above 25 MW by 66.7% to 33.3%, and also recalled the mayor and two city commissioners, the Dayton Daily News reported.

It is not yet clear whether the amendment stops the Meta project, since the city had already signed development and utility agreements for the campus. Miami County must certify the results by November 24.

Why Voters Are Pushing Back

Local opposition has focused on electricity and water demand, tax incentives and a lack of transparency. An October poll of 1,650 Ohio adults by Ohio Northern University’s ICAPP and SurveyUSA found 55% opposed data center construction in the state, while 65% opposed tax breaks for these projects. A Gallup poll in May found about 70% of Americans opposed new data centers in their own area.

The pushback comes as the largest tech companies keep raising capital spending, with Big Tech AI spending now measured in trillions of dollars.

Power-hungry campuses are also drawing scrutiny outside the US, as seen with the Drax data center plan in the UK.

The issue reached statewide politics too. Democrat Sherrod Brown, who argued for ending data center tax breaks and making operators pay for the utilities they need, defeated Republican Senator Jon Husted, who supported the incentives. AI was also a theme for voters in other ways this cycle, including chatbot voter guides that relied on error-prone sources.

What It Means for the AI Buildout

For developers, Ohio’s results show that local ballots can now block or delay projects that state officials and utilities have already welcomed. With Ohio ranked fifth among US states for data center projects, other states facing similar proposals are likely to watch how towns like Piqua and Trenton enforce their new rules.