Ohio Leads a Wave of Local Data Center Bans
Voters across several states, particularly Ohio, approved measures restricting or banning data centers, including hyperscale facilities. The measures affected towns such as Upper Sandusky, Conneaut, Pataskala, Piqua, Edgewater, Alhambra, Emporia and Ottawa, while Bloomington voters supported advising the city council to extend a moratorium on large-scale data centers.
Voters approved a wave of data center restrictions in local ballot measures across the United States, with Ohio accounting for more than half of the reported initiatives. Residents in Upper Sandusky, Conneaut, Trenton, Pataskala and Piqua added broad data center bans to their town charters, while Oregon and Sunbury adopted restrictions focused on hyperscale facilities. Monroeville voters rejected a proposal that would have given officials more flexibility to pursue data center development under existing zoning rules.
Other measures imposed or reinforced bans in Edgewater, Florida; Alhambra, California; and El Dorado, Emporia and Ottawa, Kansas. Emporia's ban is expected to jeopardize previously announced hyperscale plans, while Ottawa residents had already helped cancel a proposed facility. Bloomington, Illinois, voters backed an advisory measure supporting an effectively indefinite moratorium on large data centers, and Joliet voters rejected a proposal supporting AI data center construction.