Gov. Mike DeWine wants Ohio communities to drive harder bargains with data center developers, a message that carries particular weight in New Albany, where large-scale data center operators generated $10 million in community development charges alone in tax year 2024.
Speaking to reporters at the Ohio State Fair on Aug. 7, DeWine said local governments have more leverage than they've been using.
"We don't have to give everything to it," DeWine said, according to NBC4. "We can be more aggressive, local government can be more aggressive. We can demand certain things from them."
DeWine said he believes most Ohioans see data centers as economically beneficial but expect them to meet health and environmental standards. He added that both candidates running to replace him as governor appear to share that stance.
The governor's remarks landed the same day the Ohio Supreme Court handed residents a new tool to push back. In a unanimous ruling, the court ordered Ashville fiscal officer April Grube to submit a referendum petition to the Pickaway County Board of Elections. Residents led by Laura McNamara-Smith had gathered enough signatures in May to challenge the village's approval of a development agreement with EdgeConneX for two data centers and a natural-gas power plant.
Grube had refused to certify the petition, arguing the village adopted the resolution as an emergency measure shielded from referendum. The court found Ashville never explained why a 30-day delay would harm the project, and rejected that justification.
The ruling does not guarantee a November ballot question. The Pickaway County Board of Elections must still determine whether the resolution was legislative or administrative before placing it on the Nov. 3 ballot.
The decision does set a statewide precedent: local governments cannot label data center approvals as emergencies to dodge referendums without documenting specific harm from delay.
What it means for New Albany
New Albany has hosted data centers since 2010 and counts Amazon, Google and Meta among its tenants in the New Albany International Business Park. Those facilities are the city's economic engine. A single large-scale operator generated revenue equivalent to $178 million in payroll at the city's 2% income tax rate in tax year 2024, according to the city's financial disclosures.
New Albany's financial model requires each data center to meet a minimum annual service payment through four streams: TIF collections, New Community Authority charges, income tax and PILOT cash payments. That structure helped the city earn AAA bond ratings from both Moody's and S&P.
The city also imposes zoning standards beyond basic code: enhanced landscaping, architectural requirements, noise caps tied to the nearest residential district and screening. The city says it has received only four noise complaints from operational data centers in more than 15 years, all resolved within days.
No New Albany official has publicly responded to DeWine's comments or the court ruling.
As we reported Aug. 6, state House Bill 983 would require voter approval for future data center projects and ban tax incentives, a proposal that could reshape New Albany's development model if it advances.
Brown County attorney Austin Baurichter, who has represented data center opponents including Ashville residents, criticized DeWine's framing as insufficient. He told NBC4 the governor's call assumes deals will happen regardless of what residents want, and said trust between communities and their local governments is "thin right now." Baurichter said he wished DeWine had urged officials to protect constituents' voices, not just negotiate better terms.
The Pickaway County Board of Elections has not announced a timeline for its determination on the Ashville petition.
