Ramaswamy: Data centers will pay homeowners’ electric bills, cover property tax rebates
OH gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy
Ohio gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy has shared his plan to build the state up alongside data centers, with no additional costs brought onto consumers.
Ramaswamy unveiled the plan in a Thursday Facebook post, stating that under his administration, data centers would pay for the electricity of nearby residents. Those residents, he added, would also see a reduction in property taxes.
In an effort to “preserve economic growth” Ramaswamy made clear in his statement that he would not slow the growth of data centers in the state but would work to shield nearby residents from any negative effects, and require the centers to follow environmental regulations.
“If a data center is built in your community, then (i) you will no longer have to pay for your home’s electricity, (ii) you will pay lower property taxes, and (iii) the data center will be required to abide by all air and water quality standards without exception, and we will take the necessary steps to protect Ohio’s fertile farmland,” Ramaswamy stated while describing his plan.
Data centers cover the electric bills
To execute the policy he is suggesting, Ramaswamy added that on his first day of office he would “immediately halt the approval of any new data center project announcements in Ohio until the above-mentioned data center legislation takes effect.”
Ramaswamy said in his online statement that any overlap between data center bills and personal home electric bills can be avoided by sharing centers’ excess power—under his plan, this excess power would be “credited to the electric charges on a residential customer’s electric bill within a certain radius (the ‘benefit zone’).”
That “benefit zone” would first have to be defined by state law before going into effect.
The benefits, Ramaswamy explained, could span counties.
“Given the potential to power so many homes, most of Ohio’s counties would fit entirely within a benefit zone—which means every resident in the county would pay nothing for their electricity if a data center were built there,” he stated.
Property tax relief powered by data centers
Along with covering homeowners’ electric costs, Ramaswamy pointed his plan toward property taxes, and tax relief. Under his plan, data centers would not receive any sort of tax rebate; the money brought in by those rebates would then cover a new property tax rebate for homeowners, he explained.
“Data centers would be required to pay 100% of their property taxes without abatements, and these property tax revenues would directly fund property tax rebates for homeowners,” Ramaswamy said.
The policy, he added, would deliver property tax relief to Ohio families without stripping any funding from local schools or emergency services.
Covering environmental concerns
The final point in Ramaswamy’s plan touches on the environmental concerns that have surrounded data center developments from the beginning.
If elected governor, Ramaswamy said he would “ensure data centers do not receive special exemptions on air and water quality standards” while also protecting Ohio farmland.
“Simply put: if a data center is going to be built in Ohio, we will require it to minimize its water usage by recycling and reusing its water with the best available technology. We will also require that when the water is released, it comes out just as clean as when the data center took it in.”
Ramaswamy also emphasized the importance of using former industrial sites or “brownfields” as data center development sites instead of any fertile farmland.
“Our water and farmland are some of Ohio’s greatest and most precious resources, and my plan ensures that they are protected for all Ohioans,” he said.
Permanently banning data centers is not the answer, Ramaswamy said in his statement—but neither is allowing unrestrained development. He also noted the importance of “preserving economic growth, capital investment, and high-paying jobs in Ohio.”
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