Piqua approves AES agreement for Meta data center after $8M commitment
The Piqua City Commission approved a 30-year agreement for AES Ohio to supply permanent electricity to Meta's planned data center, following an $8 million commitment from Meta to the city. This decision came despite strong public opposition and amid efforts by residents to pass a charter amendment banning data centers in Piqua. A pending Ohio Supreme Court case could impact the local petition process.
The Piqua City Commission has approved a 30-year agreement with AES Ohio to provide permanent electricity to the planned Meta data center. This approval followed Meta's commitment of $8 million to Piqua for public safety equipment and personnel. The agreement allows AES to construct and operate necessary electric facilities for J5 LLC, the entity owning the 607-acre data center site on behalf of Meta. The original 40-year term was reduced to 30 years, and AES is required to pay Piqua $1 million annually, with a clause allowing the city to terminate if payments are missed.
Despite the approval, the decision faced significant opposition from residents, who urged commissioners to reject the deal and negotiate for greater financial benefits, especially after Meta was publicly identified as the company behind the project. Residents like Alexander Hessler argued the current agreement does not provide enough return for the city, considering the potential revenue for AES. Concerns were also raised regarding water usage, though city officials clarified the project would use a closed-loop cooling system. Jonathan Wessel criticized the negotiation process, suggesting the city could have secured more concessions.
The commission also addressed an ongoing effort by the "Save Piqua" group to place a proposed charter amendment, which would ban data centers, before Piqua voters. Commissioners took steps to expedite the amendment to the November ballot. Additionally, Save Piqua has filed recall petitions against Mayor James Vetter, Vice Mayor Frank DeBrosse, and Commissioner Rick Walker, unrelated to the data center ban itself. Mayor Vetter noted that a pending Ohio Supreme Court case concerning a similar data center ban petition in Trenton, Ohio, could influence Piqua's petition process.