‍Ohio communities are seemingly giving data center projects the thumbs down as residents weigh jobs and investment against noise, power demand, water use, and rising utility concerns.

With dozens of local governments considering restrictions, the debate has moved beyond technology and into zoning, household budgets, and the future shape of small-town life across the Midwest.

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Essential Takeaways of Data Center Moratoriums

• At least 125 Ohio communities paused projects: Local records and news reports counted active moratoriums across the state as of September 17.
• It isn't just Ohio: From Dowagiac, Michigan, to Evanston, Illinois, zoning codes weren't written for data centers, and cities are rewriting them in real time.
• Bans are spreading: At least 23 communities have effectively prohibited data centers, and at least 23 more across seven counties are considering similar rules, according to an Ohio Capital Journal count.
• Public concern is high: A Bowling Green State University poll found 78% of Ohioans support temporary pauses.
• The statehouse is lagging: Every candidate for Ohio governor has called for restrictions, but little has passed into law.

Ohio's data center debate has moved local

The loudest data center fight in Ohio is unfolding in village halls, township meetings, and zoning hearings. At least 125 Ohio municipalities and townships had active moratoriums on data centers as of September 17, according to a count by the nonprofit Ohio Capital Journal. At least 23 communities had effectively banned them, with at least 23 more across seven counties considering similar proposals. When we asked who pays for the Midwest's data center deals back in June, the number of Ohio communities that had weighed or adopted a moratorium stood at 18.

The mechanics of how these moratoriums work explains some of that surge. A permanent ban can require a lengthy zoning process, while any municipality or township can pass a moratorium. In Logan, Union, and Champaign counties, the regional planning commissions reviewed 28 nearly identical ban proposals between April and September, which would define data centers in the zoning code without assigning them a permitted use. This effectively prohibits them for now.

A Bowling Green State University and YouGov poll found that 78% of Ohioans supported moratoriums until more information could be collected, and 75% opposed construction in their own communities. While only 9% in the poll named data centers as their top issue in upcoming elections, 47% said a candidate's position was 'very important' or 'somewhat important' to their November vote.

Berea Mayor Cyril Kleem told the Ohio Capital Journal his city's one-year moratorium didn't necessarily mean it was for or against data centers. "We get so much information, particularly through social media. I don't know if it's always accurate, so we just wanted to take our time to look at it," he said. Others have made up their minds. Marta Hill, who represents Liberty Township at the Knox County Regional Planning Commission, asked a questions most can probably relate to: "Until there are regulations, why would we want to permit something in here that's not regulated?"

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Ohio's legislature hasn't caught up

Politics have moved faster than lawmaking. According to Capital & Main, every candidate for Ohio governor has called for some form of moratorium unless certain conditions are met, and Sen. Jon Husted, who is on the ballot for a Senate seat in November, conceded of the industry: "They've earned that backlash." Meanwhile, state Senate Bill 294, which passed in June, would redefine "clean energy" in ways the outlet says benefit data centers, and it still awaits a House vote.

Residents pushing back locally also face a steeper climb than they once did. In 2023, legislators raised the signature threshold for township zoning referendums from 15% to 35% of electors in the last gubernatorial vote. The Ohio Supreme Court has since allowed an Ashville referendum on a data center project to go to voters in November.

Where projects do go ahead, the rules don't always settle things. Jerome Township, among the first to pass a moratorium, now allows development under new land-use restrictions, a potential model for officials who want investment without giving developers a blank check. Even so, former trustee Wezlynn Davis told Capital & Main that noise remains an issue: "According to the way that the noise is measured, it may be in compliance, but it still is not pleasant."

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Across the Midwest, local governments try to keep up

The same scramble has been playing out in neighboring states since we started publishing, often after the fact. In Dowagiac, a small city in southwest Michigan, Hyperscale Data is converting a former factory used mostly for bitcoin mining into an AI data center, with stated plans to reach 340 megawatts. Its majority owner, Ault & Company, announced on Friday that it has put $55 million into the company. The city's experience has been rockier. In July, WWMT reported that hundreds of residents packed a council meeting over noise, after the facility violated a new city noise ordinance and neighbors filed a class action. "If they can get the noise down and they can bring jobs, I think that would be the best scenario for everybody," Mayor Patrick Bakeman said.

In Evanston, Illinois, a far smaller proposal indicates the regulatory issues for local government: a roughly 20,000-square-foot "computer processing center" in a former industrial building on Hartrey Avenue is proposed, alongside a planned innovation incubator. Owner Reed Beidler argues it fits the district's industrial zoning. "I believe, and my zoning attorney believes, that it is a permitted use," he told the Evanston RoundTable. City staff disagree, saying on Friday that the facility "does not currently appear to qualify as a listed permitted or special use under the city's existing regulations." Because Evanston's code prohibits unlisted uses, staff believe a data center wouldn't be allowed anywhere in the city until the code is amended. Staff will address City Council on Monday, September 28, as Gov. JB Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson seek moratoriums of their own, according to the RoundTable.

In Minnesota, where calls for a pause on data center growth have been building, Attorney General Keith Ellison used a September 16 forum in Eden Prairie, organized by a DFL state Senate campaign, to take aim at secrecy. "I generally think that when you walk into a data center project with non-disclosure agreements, you're already kind of on the wrong foot," Ellison said, according to EP Local News. Astrid Mozes, chair of the Swedish American Chamber of Commerce in Minnesota, set out the test more plainly: "A data center has to become an asset to [the] community. If it becomes a liability, it's no good."

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What communities should watch next

The question is whether these pauses produce useful information or merely delay unavoidable decisions. The future is just coming, it is here and the data center boom across the Midwest is moving forward. The terms are currently being renegotiated town by town: it's a pause, but for many Midwest communities, it also feels like a decision about the future and the role we get to all play in it.

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