Ohio Supreme Court deciding on public data center vote

The Ohio Supreme Court is currently deliberating a case that could significantly impact the public's ability to influence data center development in their communities. The case stems from the village of Asheville, just south of Columbus, where local officials approved a massive data center using "emergency legislation," thereby bypassing the normal approval process and denying residents the chance to overturn the deal via a referendum vote.

Former Ohio Attorney General Mark Dann, representing a data center resistance organization, argues that the use of emergency legislation was a device "used... at the recommendation of the data center developer themselves to circumvent the democratic process." He contends that a data center's desire to locate in a community does not constitute a genuine emergency, which is typically reserved for disaster relief or other critical situations. Ohio's constitution normally grants citizens 30 days to file petitions for a referendum on newly passed laws, a right that is circumvented when a law is deemed an emergency and takes immediate effect.

Dann highlights that residents have significant questions regarding data centers, particularly concerning their electricity consumption, potential impact on electric rates, water usage, and discharge. He suggests that the developer specifically advised the village to include an emergency clause to avoid a public vote due to these community concerns. The Supreme Court's ruling will determine what constitutes an "emergency" for the purpose of waiving the constitutional right to a referendum, potentially reshaping how future data center projects are approved statewide. A separate proposal in Columbus could give residents living near future projects the power to decide if they are built at all.