Backers of a long-shot attempt to ban large data centers in Ohio can now start gathering signatures as they attempt to qualify for the November ballot, following a Thursday vote in Columbus.
The Ohio Ballot Board unanimously signed off on the “Prohibition of Construction of a Data Center” amendment as addressing a single subject. Getting the board’s approval is the final legal hurdle for proposed amendments before their backers can begin circulating petitions.
But now the hard part begins. Amendment supporters must collect 413,487 valid signatures, including a minimum number from voters in 44 Ohio counties, to make it on the ballot. They say they are targeting the November election, which comes with a July 1 deadline for signatures.
The amendment is proposed by a group of residents from Brown and Adams County, near Cincinnati. They first organized to oppose a local data center project, which they said would spoil the region’s rural character. They also described themselves as a volunteer effort lacking the millions of dollars it typically takes to qualify for the ballot, though they said they’ve gotten a big response on social media.
“We have, and will continue to investigate, request, evaluate, any institutional support that we can get,” said Austin Baurichter, a lawyer working with the group. “But we also believe in ourselves.”
The amendment comes amid a rising grassroots backlash against data centers, the large, power-hungry facilities used to run the internet, which have popped up in communities around the state recently after initially concentrating in Columbus.
Democratic state Sen. Bill DeMora, a member of the Ohio Ballot Board, spoke with reporters following the meeting. He said he opposes a statewide ban on data centers because of the construction jobs, which often are represented by unions, they provide.
But, he said that he’s not concerned that public anger will give the amendment a fighting chance, given the immense hurdles amendments must clear to get on the ballot.
DeMora said even the Ohio Democratic Party couldn’t do so by July without spending a few million dollars to hire professional signature gatherers.
“I think people are more pissed off about property taxes,” DeMora said, referencing another long-shot amendment campaign that’s gotten widespread attention. “And I don’t see them getting on the ballot this year and they started six months ago.”
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More on the amendment
The data center amendment would ban any data center requiring more than 25 megawatts of power. (Read the full text here.)
This would be an effective ban on the type of construction Ohio has seen recently, as new large data centers commonly require 50 to 100 megawatts of electricity, with “hyperscale” facilities now frequently exceeding 200 to 500 megawatts.
