Ohio

Energy/Power is the dominant stressor: the core political fight is over grid upgrades, transmission buildout, interconnection, and whether residential customers should subsidize large-load data centers (WOSU, POLITICO). Water/Geology is a secondary concern in local moratorium rhetoric, especially in northwest Ohio communities that cite broader resource strain (The Blade).

- Governor: Republican Vivek Ramaswamy and Democrat Amy Acton are the marquee 2026 race, and data centers are part of the broader energy-cost debate; WOSU reported that voters worry about data centers’ effects on home energy prices, while The Blade reported leading candidates do not support a data center ban (WOSU, The Blade). - U.S. Senate: Republican incumbent Jon Husted and Democrat Sherrod Brown are also running in a statewide environment where data centers have become a rate and reliability issue, though I did not find a race-specific data-center plank from either campaign in the available sources (AP). - Other 2026 races: no specific county commissioner, mayoral, or legislative contest with clearly documented data-center positioning was identified in the available reporting.

Ohio has no statewide enacted ban as of May 2026, but the issue is very active. The Ohio Attorney General certified a proposed constitutional amendment banning construction of data centers over 25 MW, which still must clear the Ballot Board and signature-gathering hurdles to reach the ballot (The Blade, Ballotpedia). At the local level, Maumee adopted a 12-month data-center moratorium, Archbold tabled a moratorium vote, and Ballotpedia noted a proposed Wilmington, Ohio measure tied to data centers (The Blade, The Blade, Ballotpedia).

Ohio’s main ratepayer/cost-allocation action is House Bill 706, which would impose “certain minimum requirements on data center customers” and moved through both chambers in the 136th General Assembly, though the legislature page does not show final enactment status (Ohio Legislature HB 706). Separately, the Ohio PUCO approved AEP Ohio’s data-center tariff settlement requiring large new data centers to contract long term, cover at least 85% of expected load, show financial viability, and pay exit fees; PUCO also ordered AEP to lift its moratorium after the tariff is implemented (WOSU, Utility Dive). House Bill 646 would create a Data Center Study Commission, but it is a study bill rather than cost-allocation law (Ohio Legislature HB 646).

A statewide Ohio constitutional amendment to prohibit construction of data centers over 25 MW is in the petition/certification process, but as of the sources reviewed it had not yet been certified for the November ballot and still needed AG/Ballot Board steps plus signatures (Ballotpedia, The Blade). I did not identify a confirmed November 2026 ballot measure already locked in for a specific Ohio locality; Wilmington was only described as proposed in Ballotpedia’s coverage (Ballotpedia).

1. New Albany / central Ohio hyperscale corridor: multiple large projects and interconnection issues continue to anchor the statewide debate; status is broadly contested/policy-sensitive rather than project-cancelled (WOSU). 2. Maumee, northwest Ohio: not a single project but a community-level flashpoint after the city adopted a 12-month moratorium, signaling concern about incoming proposals (The Blade). 3. Archbold, northwest Ohio: proposal for hyperscale data centers prompted a council moratorium vote that was tabled, keeping the project in a contested/pending state (The Blade).

- Ohio Consumers’ Counsel (ratepayer advocate in tariff fights) (Utility Dive) - Ohio Manufacturers’ Association (pushing back on discriminatory tariff structure) (POLITICO) - Ohio Environmental Council / environmental advocates (promoted renewables-powered data-center message in Toledo Blade coverage) (The Blade) - Local opposition in Maumee and Archbold, which pushed moratoriums (The Blade, The Blade)

Inclusion criteria satisfied: Construction labor + jobs-promised. AEP Ohio large-load proceedings with labor commentary; Columbus-area buildouts; New Albany jobs-claim record. Primary-source verification pending — full content in v1.2. Sub-state and labor-market analysis available in the full RAIL briefing.

Major hub. Ohio is one of the country’s key hyperscale/data-center states, especially in central Ohio around New Albany and Columbus, with state regulators and lawmakers now focused on interconnection and cost allocation rather than whether the sector exists (WOSU, POLITICO).

“Bob and Betty Buckeye ... should not bear the cost to electrify data centers,” Ohio Rep. David Thomas said in POLITICO’s Power Switch newsletter, capturing the state’s ratepayer politics (POLITICO).

POLITICO Power Switch, WOSU: AEP Ohio tariff settlement, Ohio Legislature HB 706, Ballotpedia data-center ballot measures, The Blade: Maumee moratorium, The Blade: AG certifies amendment