Data centers spark growth amid power and water concerns in central Ohio
The short version: Central Ohio's data center boom is real, but WBNS 10TV's report underscores that nobody's tallied who actually pays for the power and water it guzzles.
Our Take
Credit to WBNS 10TV for putting a local lens on a story we've been tracking nationally: central Ohio has become one of the hottest data center corridors in the country, and the growth is outpacing the public's ability to ask basic questions. Every new campus means new substations, new water intake permits, and new tax abatements — decisions usually made in county commission meetings most residents never attend.
The pattern is familiar. Utilities project huge load growth from hyperscale customers, then ask regulators to approve new gas plants or transmission lines, and the costs get spread across everyone's monthly bill whether or not you'll ever see a server rack. Water is the quieter half of the story — cooling systems can pull millions of gallons a day from municipal supplies, often under contracts negotiated with little public disclosure of volume or price.
If you live near one of these builds, or think you might soon, check our facility map to see what's been proposed or approved near you, and visit our take-action page for ways to get the terms of these deals into the open before the concrete's poured.
This is GridWatch the USA’s original commentary. The video above is the work of WBNS 10TV, published on YouTube — full credit to the creator.