A proposed amendment to stop future construction of huge data centers in Ohio can move to the next step, as backers of the idea try to bring it to voters this fall.
Attorney General Dave Yost certified the petition filed by five southwest Ohio residents, who want to ban data centers using more than 25 megawatts a month. That allows the process to move to the Ohio Ballot Board, which will review the proposal to determine if it's a single ballot issue. Then the group can gather signatures.
"It's on like Donkey Kong," said Austin Baurichter, an attorney in Georgetown in Brown County who co-wrote the petition and is one of the five people who filed it. "As far as we're concerned right now, the thing that we were most concerned with, we're passed through that. So we're stoked and ready to roll it out."
Baurichter said the residents working on the amendment in a few mostly rural counties have come together as Ohio Residents for Responsible Development. And he said they know after the Ballot Board decision, they have a huge job ahead: gathering 413,487 valid signatures from half of Ohio's 88 counties by July 1. Because a number of signatures are likely to be tossed out as invalid, it's expected they'll need to turn in close to 700,000.
"We've been planning this entire time. We've got maps of Ohio. We've got maps of people who have already reached out to us during this process who we've told, hang on for a second, we gotta get to Phase One, and then we'll connect with you for Phase Two," Baurichter said. He said the group is working on designating county captains and other organizing, and also hopes to have discussions with institutions that might support their efforts.
"Ohioans need to have their voice heard in this. It certainly feels like we very quickly got to the eleventh hour," Baurichter said. "It's definitely not one county. It's definitely not only rural areas, although the push is coming from rural areas. And I would say, don't ever count out the people out here. Don't ever count out the voices of us Ohio residents on making it known what we want to do."
A spokesperson for the data center industry pushed back on the amendment, saying it would put Ohio at "a very competitive disadvantage". Some 15 Ohio communities have enacted moratoriums to halt future data centers.
"When communities decide to go forward with a moratorium, it effectively sends a very clear message that that is not going to be a predictable place for data center development. And so they will ultimately close themselves off to development in the future," said Dan Diorio of the Data Center Coalition, in an interview for "The State of Ohio". "I think as we see data centers continuously move out of the central Ohio area into other parts of the state that are really looking for economic development, it would be important that the state not close off everywhere, to that development opportunity."
The secretary of state's office has not yet set a date for the Ohio Ballot Board to consider the amendment proposal.
