Ohio’s business leaders are working to change public opinion on data centers, an issue drawing both strong opposition and political attention across the state.
On Wednesday, Sept. 9, the Ohio Business Roundtable launched its "Future Ready Ohio" campaign. Ohio Business Roundtable President Pat Tiberi stated the initiative aims to provide communities with facts, helping them weigh the costs and benefits of data centers and cut through what he called "misinformation and hyperbole."
Tiberi believes the message that these facilities are a necessary part of modern life, capable of bringing jobs and tax revenue without overwhelming communities if built "in the right way," is getting lost. The campaign, which Tiberi said his members have been discussing for a year, is a "broader, longer-term effort to try and educate people on the benefits of data centers."
The campaign's launch comes amid significant public opposition. A May Gallup poll indicated that seven in 10 Americans oppose having an AI data center built in their area, with nearly half strongly opposed. The issue has also become a political factor in Ohio’s Senate race, with Democrat Sherrod Brown making data centers a key campaign point against Republican Sen. Jon Husted. An August memo from the National Republican Senatorial Committee warned that data centers had become an "anchor" for Husted.
Future Ready Ohio will focus on "uber local" engagement, with leaders like school superintendents speaking with residents about potential benefits for their schools. Tiberi noted that this approach could help determine if community attitudes toward data centers are changing.
Opponents, however, reject the idea that their backlash stems from misunderstanding. Conserve Ohio, a group advocating to amend the state constitution to ban new hyperscale data centers, has collected more than 130,000 signatures since April. The group has also assisted residents in 10 communities in placing local restrictions on data centers on this November’s ballot.
Conserve Ohio attorney Nick Owens stated, "There is no misinformation when it comes to everyday Ohioans’ universal rejection of hyperscale data centers." Owens added that these facilities, often "shrouded in secrecy," cause more pollution, higher electrical bills, and the destruction of prime farmland.
Tiberi acknowledged that some communities have experienced negative outcomes, often due to inadequate local planning or developers taking advantage. He pointed to "hyperbolic stories," such as a fear that data centers would drain Lake Erie, noting that U.S. data centers consumed an estimated 17.4 billion gallons of water in 2023, compared with Lake Erie’s roughly 127 trillion gallons.
In Ashville, residents fought for months against an EdgeConneX development that included two data centers and a natural gas plant. This occurred despite an offer of up to $115 million for local governments and schools. When the village’s fiscal officer refused to certify a petition to put the deal before voters, the Ohio Supreme Court unanimously ordered the petition forwarded to elections officials. Allison Meade, one of the plaintiffs in that case, said, "No amount of campaign money and propaganda will overcome the will of the people."
Tiberi suggested that the solution to such problems is not to ban data centers, but to help communities avoid similar mistakes and negotiate better deals. He highlighted New Albany, which hosts about 40 data centers, as an example where officials designated specific development areas, preventing facilities from being built near neighborhoods.
Future Ready Ohio also supports data centers covering their own grid costs, backing AEP Ohio’s new tariff requiring large load customers to make long-term financial commitments for infrastructure upgrades. Tiberi also acknowledged that non-disclosure agreements have eroded public trust and that not every tax abatement has been beneficial for the granting community.
In New Albany, multiple rapid-deploy, modular server halls are under construction at Meta’s Prometheus AI supercluster campus along Morse Road. These "tent-style" structures are designed to bring the 1-gigawatt facility online faster than traditional concrete data centers.