DEAL OR DILEMMA?

Lordstown, Ohio, is the proposed site for a multi-billion-dollar data center project that is currently stalled due to ongoing legal disputes and a moratorium enacted by the village. The Lordstown Village Council approved a six-month moratorium in January to halt the processing of new data center applications and permits, reflecting a growing local and national debate about the impact of these facilities. Neighboring communities have also taken action; Hubbard Township Trustees voted for a year-long moratorium, and Vienna is preemptively reviewing its zoning laws. These actions highlight concerns about the rapid, explosive growth of data centers, often driven by AI-enabled technologies. Experts like Dan Diorio, Vice President of State Policy at the Data Center Coalition, emphasize the significant capital investment and temporary construction jobs data centers bring, along with substantial local tax revenue for communities. However, Dimitrios Nikolopoulos, an Engineering professor at Virginia Tech, points out that permanent job creation is minimal. Wezlynn Davis, a former Jerome Township Trustee, criticized tax abatements that allow data centers to avoid paying their 'fair share' of property taxes, advocating for local government review of such incentives. The article contextualizes the discussion with a general mention of electricity demands, using Loudoun County, Virginia, as an example of a region with high-voltage transmission lines for data centers.