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The massive proliferation of data centers in our state and nation has fast rocketed to become the undisputed hot potato issue of 2026. To argue otherwise flies in the face of in-your-face realities.
In the United States, nearly 4,000 data centers have opened in recent years with an additional 1,500 sites proposed or under construction. In Ohio, artificial intelligence and cloud computing demand have fueled construction of about 200 such centers, the fifth-highest number of any state in the nation.
But as they grow, so, too, does fierce and sometimes caustic pushback in communities large and small fearful of their potentially negative consequences on their pocketbooks and on their environment. Many have objected to their phenomenal growth over legitimate concerns about rising electricity rates, gargantuan drains on limited water supplies and potential pollution. Other broader fears center around job losses associated with unchecked growth of artificial intelligence.
In the Mahoning Valley alone, nearly a dozen communities -- including Boardman, Girard, Niles, Lordstown -- have reacted by enacting measures or by considering measures for moratoriums or other restrictions on their development.
The latest and perhaps most consequential effort to rein in the growth of the data center industry emanates from Capitol Hill in Washington. There, House and Senate members have introduced potentially landmark bills titled The Ratepayer Protection Act.
Generally speaking, that legislation would direct state utility regulators such as the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio to ensure that large power consumers pay the full cost of required grid upgrades, power generation and transmission lines -- rather than passing that burden onto hapless electric and water consumers through costly rate hikes.
The legislation also includes responsible provisions addressing transparency, accountability and the environment. The RPA would require public records access, limit use of secrecy or nondisclosure agreements by local officials and mandate strict water conservation.
Fortunately, that consumer-friendly legislation appears rolling along a fast track. The U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee just last week acted with uncanny bipartisan speed in voting 52-0 to advance the Ratepayer Protection Act to the full House for a vote this fall. Among those on that committee expediting its rapid movement was Mahoning Valley Rep. Mike Rulli, R-Salem.
In the Senate, former Lt. Gov. and current U.S. Sen Jon Husted, R-Ohio, took the lead last week in introducing the Ratepayer Protection Act as that chamber's companion legislation.
"The Ratepayer Protection Act would keep America globally competitive while protecting Ohioans and Americans from higher electricity bills," Husted said in introducing the measure. "If America wants to lead the world in AI and strengthen our national security, we have to build the energy infrastructure to support it. But we must do that without passing the costs on to working families and small businesses," he added.
As that legislation moves on a hoped-for continued fast track toward passage, we hope it does not risk becoming overly politicized.
Unfortunately, In Ohio, that already is playing out. Former Democrat U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown has spent considerable sums on his Senate election campaign ads vilifying Husted for his past support for tax breaks and incentives for the data center industry. To be fair to Husted, such support was the norm even a few short years ago among many states in the union seeking to capitalize on the fruits of the burgeoning new industry.
Today, however, Ohio has taken a responsible lead in placing an indefinite hold on the most lavish of those incentives until the full impact of data center development on the state's residents, environment and utilities are thoroughly studied.
As such, Husted's legislation rises as a viable compromise that protects consumers from data center-driven rate shocks but still provides pathways to ensure this nation's leadership in artificial intelligence technology and infrastructure is not threatened.
That is a compromise that holds promising potential to cool the flames of the fiery data center debacle. As such, we encourage swift passage of the Ratepayer Protection Act this fall.