Current elected officials and candidates have said for months the debate over data centers ranks among the major issues for voters heading into the November election.
A big sales and use tax break for new construction statewide was frozen in May, and that’s going to stay the case until next year, Gov. Mike DeWine told reporters Wednesday afternoon.
“That will continue until I leave office,” DeWine said.
Just two months ago, an eleventh-hour effort before summer recess to send new regulations to DeWine died.
The last-minute bill lawmakers were considering would have created an electric rate class for the state’s data centers, cut off local tax abatements of facilities at 50%, and regulated water usage and discharges by them, among other measures. But objections by House members to extend a sales and use tax break ultimately killed negotiations.
The amended version of House Bill 646 is unlikely to see any substantive action before November.
Plans by candidates take form
Both major candidates running to succeed DeWine, Amy Acton and Vivek Ramaswamy, are now detailing what they want to do about data centers.
Ramaswamy, the GOP nominee, said Thursday morning any new data center should have to cover not only its own electric costs, but also foot the bill for nearby residential consumers through credits on their bills or direct reimbursements.
“Not only should you not pay more in electric bills, you should pay meaningfully less in electric bills,” Ramaswamy told reporters Wednesday afternoon.
In an extended statement, he said he is also proposing eliminating local abatements of property taxes but requiring the revenue to go to direct rebates for homeowners. “I’m not ‘pro-data center.’ I’m pro-Ohio, and I have a plan to fix the problem,” he said.
Just last week, Acton, the Democratic nominee, called for a conditional moratorium on construction of new facilities. Her conditions include a data center needing to cover its own costs, use union labor, and locate on a brownfield rather than farmland, among other ideas.
Acton spokesperson Addie Bullock said in an email Thursday that what Ramaswamy is proposing a “scam ... to distract Ohioans from his pro-data center record and personal investments in data centers.”
Much of what each candidate wants to do requires the legislature’s involvement. Election Day is less than 90 days away.
