Data center study sought

NORWALK — With the sharp rise in data centers in the news lately, two local state lawmakers said it's time for the state government to take a closer look at them. State Rep. Gary Click, R-Vickery, and state Rep. Kellie Deeter, R-Norwalk, have introduced a bill, House Bill 646, to create a bipartisan data center study commission to study the rapid rise of data centers in Ohio. In a news release, Click and Deeter explain that the idea would be for the commission to listen to a wide variety of opinions and then issue a report that would help the public know what's going on. The two said that Ohio has about 200 data centers so far with more on the way. The concerns range from the large amount of water such data centers use, the large amount of power they need, the use of farmland and even national security concerns. "We have heard the concerns of our communities and taken time to speak with those in the industry. We feel that this is the best approach to ensure that every voice is heard," Click said. "In my rural district of 33 townships, residents are raising serious concerns about greenfield development and the loss of productive farmland. This bill creates a data center study commission so Ohio can take a thoughtful approach, possibly even prioritizing redevelopment of brownfields and existing industrial sites before expanding into rural green space," Deeter said. "The proliferation of data centers is necessary and inevitable, but the growth should be smart, balanced and respectful of local communities," she said. House Bill 646 hasn't been assigned to a House committee yet. That will likely take place in the last week of January or in February, when lawmakers resume work, Click told the Register. The bill proposes a 13-member study commission with three apiece named by the House speaker, the Senate president and the governor. The minority leaders of the House and Senate would also each name two members. Data centers have recently attracted plenty of attention from the press and the general public. The Guardian, a prominent British newspaper, ran an article on Dec. 16 on the new Aligned Data Centers facility in Perkins Township at Hayes Avenue and Perkins Avenue. The article noted the heavy use of water by data centers. "With major cities such as Chicago, Toronto, Detroit and Pittsburgh all within a few hundred miles of each other, small, under-resourced communities around the Great Lakes have become hugely attractive for data-center companies," it said. Datacentermap.com, a website that tracks data center locations, currently shows 191 locations in Ohio. While many of them are clustered in the Columbus area, there are a few in northern Ohio. Aside from the one in Perkins Township, the map shows one in Lorain, two in the Toledo area, one in Bowling Green and some in the Cleveland area. A Facebook group, "Woodville & Gibsonburg Data Center," is devoted to a possible data center in the area.