Amy Acton, Democratic governor candidate, has proposed a plan to regulate new data centers in Ohio. The plan includes conditions such as energy costs, union labor, transparency, environmental standards, and siting. Acton stated that Ohio families and businesses need protection from data centers driving up costs.
Plan Details
Acton’s plan assigns several conditions to any data center project, including requirements for energy costs, union labor, and environmental standards. The plan also describes reining in incentives for data centers, such as allowing the state to claw back money for developers who fail to follow through on their job promises.
Acton’s opponent, Vivek Ramaswamy, has shared his thoughts on data centers, stating that they should avoid passing the cost of their electricity use and grid upgrades to everyday customers. Ramaswamy also emphasized the importance of siting, suggesting that developers should first consider building their projects on brownfield sites.
Comparison to Republican Plan
Acton’s plan does not clearly call for a reduction or elimination of the state’s lucrative data center tax exemption, which Republican House Speaker Matt Huffman attempted to repeal earlier this summer. In contrast, Huffman and other legislative Republicans have proposed eliminating or reducing the data center tax exemption.
Original reporting: Signal Cleveland — read the source article.
