'We're on a mission' | Local advocate trying to get data center regulations on Ohio ballot this November
A local advocate in Bethel, Ohio, Jo Wilson, is leading a grassroots campaign called Conserve Ohio to get a constitutional amendment on the November ballot. The proposed amendment would ban the construction of data centers consuming over 25 megawatts per month due to concerns about water and electricity usage. Separately, representatives from Google, Meta, Amazon, and Microsoft testified before an Ohio legislative committee regarding their data center operations and impact on the state's resources.
Jo Wilson, a local advocate from Bethel, Ohio, is spearheading the Conserve Ohio campaign, a grassroots effort to place a constitutional amendment on the state's November ballot. The proposed amendment aims to ban data centers that consume more than 25 megawatts of energy monthly, driven by concerns over substantial water and electricity usage. Wilson has been actively collecting signatures since April, with the campaign needing over 413,000 confirmed signatures by July 1st to qualify for the ballot. If unsuccessful by the deadline, the campaign plans to roll over signatures for the November 2027 ballot.
Simultaneously, in Columbus, executives from four major tech companies—Google, Meta, Amazon (AWS), and Microsoft—testified before the Ohio House and Senate's Select Committee on Data Centers. The representatives explained their data center operations in Ohio and responded to committee questions regarding their impact on water, jobs, and energy resources. Thor Underdahl of Meta and Craig Sundstrom of AWS discussed efforts to minimize water consumption, with Sundstrom highlighting AWS's ability to operate data centers in Ohio using evaporative cooling systems only 3% of the year.
These testimonies followed recent public hearings where Ohio residents expressed their concerns about data centers to the same state legislative committee. Wilson's campaign, which has gathered approximately 50,000 signatures, reflects a broader sentiment among some Ohioans who acknowledge the need for data centers but oppose the construction of large-scale, high-consumption facilities.