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With data centers popping up in Ohio and creating controversy, Republican Vivek Ramaswamy and Democrat Amy Acton, who are running for governor, are taking positions on them.
Ramaswamy said Thursday that he has three nonnegotiable requirements for data centers -- they must ensure that Ohio families who live near them receive free electricity by providing power or compensation that directly lowers residential electric bills, they must pay their full property taxes, and they must comply with strict air and water quality standards while prioritizing brownfield and industrial sites.
Acton, who unveiled her plan last week, said as governor, she would "take immediate action and support a conditional moratorium on data centers to ensure they cover 100% of their utility costs, exclusively built with union labor, operate with full transparency, adhere to Ohio's environmental standards, support the needs of local communities and bring jobs to former industrial areas that have been left behind."
Ohio has become a popular location for data centers, with more than 200 of them operating in the state.
A number of communities in the Mahoning Valley have issued moratoriums on data centers because of the amount of electricity and water they use. Among those issuing moratoriums on data centers are Boardman, Hubbard Township, Girard, Lordstown, Cortland, Niles, Howland, Bazetta, Vienna and Weathersfield.
Ramaswamy said besides property taxes, he hears the most concern from voters he talks to about the expansion of data centers.
Ramaswamy said: "Key citizen concerns about data centers include rising electric bills, noise, pollution and the absence of clearly defined economic benefits for Ohio families. The data center industry has badly failed to earn the trust of millions of everyday Ohioans who are struggling with electric bills and property taxes, wondering why large corporations receive property tax abatements while ordinary homeowners don't receive the same."
Ramaswamy said he is "convinced that the best path forward is neither unrestrained data center growth nor a permanent categorical ban. The right answer is a policy framework that allows Ohio families to prosper economically while protecting local communities."
Ramaswamy said he is pledging to Ohioans that if a data center is built near them, they will no longer have to pay their home's electricity and they would pay lower property taxes while the data center would abide by all air and water quality standards without exception.
He said: "If any one of these three conditions is not met, the data center won't be built. Period. I will work with Ohio's state legislators to codify these commitments into law immediately after I assume office."
Ramaswamy also said he would issue an executive order on his first day in office as governor to halt the approval of any new data center project announcements in Ohio until those conditions are met.
Acton said: "Costs are too high, and Ohio families and businesses need protection from data centers driving up costs. Ohio is open for business, but we are not up for sale."
Acton said she will support "strong state guardrails that protect residents, workers and local communities from paying the price for new development."
All costs for gas, water and electricity need to be covered by data centers and their investors with data centers required to invest in their own energy generation options and prove the project won't increase electricity prices or negatively impact regional reliability, Acton said.
The state sales tax exemptions for data centers was $1.57 billion last year, which is considerably more than the state's estimate.
Gov. Mike DeWine, a Republican who cannot seek reelection, on May 27 directed the head of the Ohio Tax Credit Authority to pause consideration of any new data center tax exemption requests while the state Legislature studies the growth of the centers. State legislators recently introduced a bill to regulate data centers in Ohio, but the General Assembly won't meet until after the Nov. 3 election.
Legislators failed to pass a data center regulation bill in June that would have limited the state's sales tax break for new facilities from 100% to 50%.
Acton said: "Ohio's out of control long-term tax incentives must be reigned in. I will fight for much-needed transparency and add clawback provisions to protect Ohio taxpayers."
Acton said she will also insist on transparency and accountability and "will end the secrecy and data center (non-disclosure agreements) in Ohio as governor. Our communities need to know who they are working with. This secrecy has allowed for one-sided negotiations that undermine community interests and prevent residents from understanding the long-term impacts and risks of these projects. My priority is to protect residents, workers and local interest in all developments to ensure that our communities are benefitting."
Acton said Ohio "cannot trust Vivek Ramaswamy to protect communities from his fellow big-tech billionaires." An Acton campaign spokesperson on Thursday called Ramaswamy's plan a "scam policy in an embarrassing attempt to distract Ohioans from his pro-data center record and personal investments in data centers."
Ramaswamy said Acton said data centers must not contribute to high electric bills for ratepayers, "a concept that I advocated for in early 2025 long before she started parroting the same. This is obvious but insufficient. We can and must go further for Ohio families."
Citing public opposition, the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency on July 21 rejected a request for a blanket permit for data centers to discharge wastewater and decided to consider each project on an individual basis.
In its ruling, the state EPA wrote: "After carefully reviewing the significant volume of public comments received on the draft National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System general permit for data centers, Ohio EPA has decided not to move forward with finalizing the general permit" that would have allowed data centers to dump wastewater into the state's waterways.
The EPA decided: "The individual NPDES permit issuance process is the most appropriate path forward at this time. Individual NPDES permits will continue to uphold the same rigorous environmental standards and protections required under state and federal law."
Data centers use water for cooling of servers, which generates great heat.