Trenton residents seek to put data center ban on November ballot
A group of Trenton, Ohio, residents is petitioning to put a city charter amendment on the November ballot to ban data centers over 25 megawatts. This action follows months of opposition to a 250-megawatt data center under construction, driven by concerns over noise, water usage, and environmental impacts. If passed, the amendment would prevent future large data center developments in the city.
A group of residents in Trenton, Ohio, known as the Woodsdale and Trenton Environmental Resistance, is actively campaigning to amend the city charter to prohibit large-scale data centers. They submitted a petition on Wednesday to place a measure on the November ballot that would ban data centers exceeding 25 megawatts in power consumption. This initiative stems from months of community pushback against a 250-megawatt data center currently under construction in the city's industrial park.
Residents like Barry Blankenship, who lives near the development, express significant concerns about the proximity of the data center to a school, neighborhoods, and a metropark, citing potential issues such as noise pollution, excessive water usage, and overall environmental impact. Blankenship noted that elected officials in Trenton have not adopted moratoriums like other Butler County communities, prompting the citizen-led effort to create a "safety net."
The group successfully gathered over 450 signatures, well exceeding the 128 required for the petition. The city of Trenton and the Butler County Board of Elections are now tasked with reviewing and validating these signatures. If approved, the proposed charter amendment will appear on the November ballot, though it would not impact the data center already under construction, only future developments of similar scale. Separately, a statewide grassroots organization is also working towards a constitutional ban on large data centers in Ohio, aiming for the 2027 ballot.