This piece was originally published on Cleveland.com on November 1, 2026.
In small towns, suburbs and urban centers throughout the state, everyday Ohioans have formed grassroots campaigns to raise concerns about the rapid growth of hyperscale data centers — and often to oppose data center development in their communities.
And yet, with Ohio’s 136th General Assembly nearly over, our elected representatives in Columbus have not meaningfully responded to their constituents’ demands.
As the legislative session draws to a close, one opportunity remains: the lame duck session.
Last spring, when faced with increasing calls for action on data centers, Ohio lawmakers pantomimed legislative activity. They created a Select Committee to gather information and hear testimony from the public, industry stakeholders and other interested parties. They proposed an omnibus data center bill that included a range of measures to rein in data center development.
Then, without taking concrete action, they went home for their regularly scheduled 19-week recess. (To be fair, they reconvened once, to pass a bill that will spend $725 million to save the average Ohio driver between $33 and $55 over three months.)
So what comes next? As the post-election dust settles, Ohio legislators return to Columbus for a lame duck session — the last opportunity for this General Assembly to pass legislation before their terms end in December.
It’s a chance for legislators to finally step up and do what Ohioans, regardless of political party, have been demanding for months: Stop using the tax code to give technology corporations blank checks, and create strong guardrails to protect our communities, natural resources and public finances from the unchecked growth of artificial intelligence-driven data center development.
Much of this opposition is the result of local leaders excluding residents from the decision-making process, striking deals behind closed doors and signing nondisclosure agreements (NDAs) with wealthy and well-connected developers.
By concealing details about these deals until the ink is already dry, local leaders have invited accusations of corruption and broken the public’s trust.
State legislators can (and should) step in by restricting the use of NDAs on public projects, requiring transparency and public input on these community-transforming developments.
While they’re at it, the General Assembly should:
- Ensure that utility companies cannot force everyday Ohioans to pay for the enormous energy use and grid expansion required by hyperscale data centers.
- Permanently end the (now-paused) tax incentive for new data center projects that cost $2 billion in state and local revenue last year. Other states have already shown them how it’s done — and that this is not a partisan issue.
- Chip away at the future costs of that tax break — which will still apply to existing agreements with data center corporations such as Amazon, Meta and Google — by enacting new taxes on their equipment.
The omnibus data center bill that was rolled out before recess (Substitute House Bill 646) is still on the table. In its current form, it’s a step in the right direction — but lame duck is an opportunity to go further.
If the 136th General Assembly fails to do so, the 137th will have to start from scratch, with the clock ticking on some of the most urgent public policy questions of the decade. The consequences of legislative action (or inaction) will last far longer.
The current legislature has one last chance to serve its purpose: making policy that serves the people of Ohio. They should not let this opportunity go by.