Kent latest city to tap the brakes on data centers

Kent City Council unanimously approved a one-year moratorium on new large-scale data centers at its April 15 meeting. The decision followed a prior discussion where Ward 6 Councilman Jeff Clapper initially proposed a six-month halt, which was then extended to a year through an amendment. The city cited the significant energy, water, and infrastructure demands of these industrial facilities, stating a need for time to assess its capacity to accommodate them. Councilman Clapper emphasized that this moratorium allows Kent to refine its zoning code to better manage AI data centers. This move places Kent among several communities in Ohio's Summit and Portage counties that are addressing data center development. Tallmadge recently enacted a six-month moratorium, while Ravenna and Streetsboro held public meetings on the issue. Shalersville extended an existing moratorium. Previously, in October, Norton officials rejected "Project Triton," a data center proposal by Quantum HPC for a 90-acre site off South Cleveland-Massillon Road. Critics across the state often highlight environmental damage, energy drain, and limited job creation as concerns associated with data center projects, with Ohio already home to nearly 200 data centers, many concentrated around Columbus.