Data center concerns bring ratepayer rally to Ironton, Ohio
IRONTON, Ohio (WCHS) — As Ohio’s data-center boom accelerates, some residents in southern Ohio are warning that the growing demand for electricity could end up raising utility bills for customers.
Democrats rallied in Ironton Tuesday to protest data-center development and its supporters, pointing to concerns about how large projects could affect the power grid and what that could mean for ratepayers.
“I feel like we’re all in the dark about exactly what’s going on, how it is going to affect us,” said Ironton resident Anne Artis. “The only thing we can look at is people or communities that already have a data center and see what it’s done to their quality of life.”
Hundreds of data centers are in development in Ohio. State regulators have said they are keeping costs off customers’ bills by using special rates for new facilities, but some ratepayers said they are not convinced those protections will hold as demand grows.
“They just put a tremendous stress on the grid unless those data centers provide extra capacity on them,” said Ironton resident Bob McCollister. “If you don’t provide extra capacity on the grid, that’s going to drive up electricity rates for everybody.”
The latest project drawing attention is a proposed billion-dollar Google data center in Scioto County, along with a new AEP substation intended to support it.
Jacob Hock, an Ironton City Council member, said the development has left him uneasy.
“Every time I look at that development, it’s a pit in my stomach,” Hock said.
At Tuesday’s rally, Democratic leaders also focused their criticism on U.S. Sen. Jon Husted. While serving as Ohio’s lieutenant governor, Husted promoted the state as a destination for data-center investment, according to speakers at the event.
“John Husted is the face of data centers and wants to rewrite his record with this I just feel like it’s disingenuous and you know he’s the reason that a lot of them are here,” Hock said.
Husted now backs the Ratepayer Protection Act, which would have state regulators consider rules aimed at making large power users pay for the energy and infrastructure they need.
McCollister criticized the proposal, saying, “The Ratepayer Protection Act does nothing to require big tech companies to do something about electricity rates and water bills and noise pollution. It makes suggestions to a higher regulators in our case the PUCO to think about doing something. It is a band-aid, a toothless bill and it will not have any effect.”
Artis said she worries about the impact of any future increases on people already struggling to pay their bills.
“I’m fearful for people who can’t pay them now. You know? Once something goes up, it rarely comes back down,” she said. “You have to really, really fight for it.”
The debate now centers on whether the strain on the power grid and the cost of new infrastructure will ultimately fall on customers.