As plans continue moving ahead for Google’s proposed data center campus in Franklin Furnace, efforts to place a statewide data center ban before Ohio voters have hit a significant delay.<\/p>\n
Conserve Ohio, a grassroots group opposing large-scale data center development across the state, announced this week that it will not make the deadline to place its proposed constitutional amendment on the ballot this year.<\/p>\n
The announcement means voters won’t be weighing in on a statewide data center ban anytime soon, leaving local projects\u2014including Google’s proposed Franklin Furnace campus\u2014to continue moving through existing approval processes.<\/p>\n
The group said it has collected more than 70,000 signatures and recruited more than 1,000 volunteers since launching its campaign roughly 10 weeks ago.<\/p>\n
“We are not going to be submitting this year,” the organization said in a statement. “Construction won’t be stopping, so signature gathering and community action will not be stopping.”<\/p>\n
Instead, organizers now say they are targeting Ohio’s 2027 general election.<\/p>\n
The delay comes as data center development has become one of the most controversial growth issues in Ohio.<\/p>\n
Several communities across the state have enacted temporary moratoriums on new data center projects while local officials study potential impacts on water usage, electric demand, traffic, and long-term economic benefits.<\/p>\n
At the same time, lawmakers in Columbus are debating a variety of proposals that could change how future data centers operate in Ohio.<\/p>\n
So far, however, none of those proposals have become law.<\/p>\n
One of the most closely watched measures is House Bill 646, which would reduce future sales tax exemptions for qualifying data center projects from 100% to 50%.<\/p>\n
According to the Ohio Department of Taxation, Ohio provided approximately $1.57 billion in sales-tax exemptions for data center equipment and construction materials last year.<\/p>\n
However, even if House Bill 646 passes, it would not affect existing agreements already in place with companies such as Google, Meta, and Amazon.<\/p>\n
For residents following Google’s proposed Franklin Furnace project, the latest announcement changes very little in the short term.<\/p>\n
Google has already received approval for a Community Reinvestment Area tax abatement from Scioto County Commissioners and has continued moving through environmental reviews, permitting requirements, and community engagement efforts.<\/p>\n
The company recently hosted a public information session at Green High School and launched a project website providing details about the proposed development.<\/p>\n
Google has described the project as a potential $1 billion investment in Scioto County.<\/p>\n
Commissioners have repeatedly emphasized that their vote involved a tax abatement agreement, not approval of the project itself.<\/p>\n
Supporters argue the project could bring significant construction activity, new jobs, and long-term investment to the region.<\/p>\n
Critics remain concerned about issues including water consumption, electric demand, environmental impacts, and the long-term benefits for local residents.<\/p>\n
While the proposed statewide ban appears headed for a later ballot, the broader debate over data centers is far from over.<\/p>\n
Ohio lawmakers continue discussing legislation dealing with electric grid capacity, water usage, local control, and tax incentives.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, communities across the state\u2014including Scioto County\u2014are wrestling with the question of how to balance economic development opportunities with concerns about infrastructure, environmental impacts, and quality of life.<\/p>\n
For now, one thing is clear: Ohio’s data center boom is continuing, and the conversation surrounding it is likely to remain a major issue for years to come.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
As plans continue moving ahead for Google’s proposed data center campus in Franklin Furnace, efforts to place a statewide data center ban before Ohio voters have hit a significant delay. Conserve Ohio, a grassroots group opposing large-scale data center development across the state, announced this week that it will not make the deadline to place […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":106667,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"post_subtitle":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":{"subtitle":"","format":"standard","override":[{"template":"2","parallax":"1","layout":"right-sidebar","sidebar":"default-sidebar","second_sidebar":"default-sidebar","sticky_sidebar":"1","share_position":"float","share_float_style":"share-monocrhome","show_share_counter":"1","show_featured":"1","show_post_meta":"1","show_post_author":"1","show_post_author_image":"1","show_post_date":"1","post_date_format":"ago","post_date_format_custom":"Y\/m\/d","show_post_category":"1","post_reading_time_wpm":"150","post_calculate_word_method":"str_word_count","zoom_button_out_step":"2","zoom_button_in_step":"3","show_post_tag":"1","show_comment_section":"1","number_popup_post":"1","show_inline_post_related":"1"}],"image_override":[{"single_post_thumbnail_size":"crop-715","single_post_gallery_size":"crop-500"}],"trending_post_position":"meta","trending_post_label":"Trending","sponsored_post_label":"Sponsored by","disable_ad":"0"},"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":{"view_counter_number":"0","share_counter_number":"0","like_counter_number":"0","dislike_counter_number":"0"},"jnews_post_split":{"post_split":[{"template":"1","tag":"h2","numbering":"asc","mode":"normal","first":"0","enable_toc":"0","toc_type":"normal"}]},"footnotes":""},"categories":[28053],"tags":[28253,305,159,97],"yst_prominent_words":[2306,942,1259,456],"class_list":["post-106666","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ohio","tag-data-centers","tag-ohio","tag-scioto-county","tag-southern-ohio"],"yoast_meta":{"yoast_wpseo_title":"Data Center Ban Won't Be on Ohio Ballot as Franklin Furnace Project Moves Forward - Scioto County Daily News","yoast_wpseo_metadesc":"","yoast_wpseo_canonical":"https:\/\/sciotocountydailynews.com\/data-center-ban-wont-be-on-ohio-ballot-as-franklin-furnace-project-moves-forward"},"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sciotocountydailynews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106666","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sciotocountydailynews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sciotocountydailynews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sciotocountydailynews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sciotocountydailynews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=106666"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sciotocountydailynews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106666\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":106669,"href":"https:\/\/sciotocountydailynews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106666\/revisions\/106669"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sciotocountydailynews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/106667"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sciotocountydailynews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=106666"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sciotocountydailynews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=106666"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sciotocountydailynews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=106666"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sciotocountydailynews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fyst_prominent_words&post=106666"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}