Smith, Senate Democrats in Calling for Bipartisan Data Center Accountability Legislation

Today, state Senator Kent Smith (D-Euclid) joined members of the Ohio Senate Democratic Caucus at a press conference to discuss the need for bipartisan legislation to address the reliability, affordability, water use, and local control concerns associated with data centers.

“Ohio currently has an existing tax giveaway for data center development that is costing us almost $200 million a year,” said Smith, who serves as ranking member on the Energy and Local Government Committees and on the Public Utilities Committee. “For this tax break, everyday Ohioans are forced to pay increased utility bills because of the extra energy demand. Data centers need to start paying their fair share. That's what the tax break repeal bill and Data Grid Cost Responsibility Act will do. I would ask our Senate Republican friends to join with us to protect the pockets of the people we represent.”

Senate Democrats discussed their plan to introduce the following pieces of legislation and invited Republicans to join in the work:

• Data Center Grid Cost Responsibility Act - This bill would require data centers to pay the full cost of adding generation, transmission, and distribution capacity that is necessary to provide service and would prohibit any costs from being paid by other ratepayers. 
• Data Center Tax Break Bill - This bill would require new data center sales tax exemptions from being granted, due to the little-to-no benefit that local taxpayers see as a result of these awards being given. 
• Powering Ohio Communities Act - This bill would require data centers to prove they will invest in local communities either through community energy or other residential ratepayer upgrades before they can connect to the grid. 
• Local Development Protection Act - This bill would explicitly state that counties, townships, and municipal corporations have the authority to make local decisions regarding the data centers within their communities, without facing any pressure imposed by state officials.
• A resolution reaffirming home rule - This resolution would state that because data centers impose unique infrastructure and energy burdens on communities, no community should be forced to accept a facility that raises utility bills or strains local infrastructure. In essence, it reaffirms Ohio's constitutional commitment to home rule.
• Ohio Power Reliability and Fairness Act - This bill would require PUCO oversight on grid capacity review that data centers must undergo to ensure projected energy demand won’t endanger reliability or raise rates.
• Responsible Water Use in Data Centers Act - This bill would require data centers to report their annual water usage and prohibit them from having an average daily consumptive use of more than 5 million gallons. The bill would also require data centers to pay for all upgrades to local infrastructure necessary to accommodate their usage.

Watch the full press conference here.