Graded Moderate and tightening. 15 laws, orders, rulings and local actions, each with its source, reviewed 23 October 2026.
AEP Ohio Schedule DCT (July 2025) demands collateral of half of minimum charges before service; HB 15 (August 2025) permits but does not require own power.
PUCO's AEP Ohio DCT class (July 2025) sets an 85 percent minimum over 12 years with exit fees, and the August 5, 2026 notice rule assigns default costs.
At least 138 local moratoria as of September 17, 2026, upheld by the Ohio Supreme Court on October 20, 2026, cover most main markets including central Ohio.
Gov. DeWine paused new sales tax exemption offers on May 27, 2026 with no end date; existing agreements keep their breaks.
No water, air or disclosure rule is in force; HB 784 water reporting and HB 695 NDA limits are pending.
Scored on rules in force, 1 to 5. 5 is the most regulated. Pending rules set the arrow.
Ohio has turned against new data centers faster at the local and executive level than in statute. Gov. DeWine paused new offers of the sales tax exemption on 27 May 2026 after its cost reached about $1.6 billion in 2025, and at least 138 municipalities and townships had moratoria in force by mid-September 2026. On 20 October 2026 the Ohio Supreme Court ruled 7-0 in Bristolville 25 Developer v. Village of Lordstown that a village owes no site plan review while its moratorium is in effect, the first high-court backing for the local pauses against developer challenges. A Senate package (Substitute HB 646) that would halve new tax breaks and require a data center tariff at every utility was informally passed by the Senate in June 2026 but has had no final vote. The AEP Ohio data center tariff (25 MW and above, 85 percent minimum, 12 years) remains the only approved tariff and is under appeal at the Ohio Supreme Court.
The 3 November 2026 election picks a new governor, who decides whether the pause on new exemptions continues. Ohio accounts for 21 of the 39 local data center ballot measures counted nationwide for 2026, most of them on the 3 November ballot, including proposed bans in 11 cities and villages; Trenton's Issue 17 would ban data centers above 25 MW and could affect two Amazon Web Services projects. Substitute HB 646 has had no action since 10 June, talks collapsed over the sales tax exemption, and it and the other pending bills die when the General Assembly ends in December 2026 unless passed in the post-election session. PUCO has directed FirstEnergy to propose a data center tariff and staff recommended one for AES Ohio, the manufacturers' appeal of the AEP Ohio tariff still awaits a ruling, and Cincinnati expects draft zoning rules in November 2026 ahead of its interim control's expiry on 11 February 2027. Backers of a constitutional ban on data centers above 25 MW are now aiming for the November 2027 ballot.
No statewide moratorium, but 1 local pause is in force as of 23 October 2026, in Statewide (138 municipalities and townships). Proposals and expired pauses are not counted.
Tightening. Ohio is graded Moderate, which means incentives alongside new costs, limits or local pushback. New tax breaks paused; 138 local moratoria; state bill stalled. The outlook above says what is pending.
Ohio sits in PJM. The grid operator decides how a new large load is studied, what it must bring or pay, and whether it can be curtailed first; the state decides siting, permits, tariffs and incentives.
Yes. Ohio has paused, narrowed or ended a data center incentive in 2025 or 2026: Sales tax exemption repeal vetoed; override abandoned; Governor pauses new sales tax exemption awards.
On Genloop's five-line rubric (1 least regulated, 5 most) Ohio scores grid connection 3, power rates 4, siting and land use 4, tax treatment 4, permits and water 1, a mean of 3.2. The most regulated line is tax treatment: Gov. DeWine paused new sales tax exemption offers on May 27, 2026 with no end date; existing agreements keep their breaks.
15 items: each is a law, order, tariff, ruling, utility action or local decision that changes what a data center must do, pay or disclose, or where it may be built. Failed and pending measures are marked. Each links to its source.
On 1 September 2026 the Ohio Supreme Court (State ex rel. Blankenship v. Trenton City Council, 2026-Ohio-3406) held that Trenton must submit a citizen charter amendment banning large data centers to voters, finding only 128 valid signatures were needed, not the 820 the city claimed. The ban is on the 3 November 2026 ballot as Issue 17, covering data centers above 25 MW; it could affect two Amazon Web Services projects, one under construction. On 15 October council withdrew five resolutions, including a one-year property tax holiday, that had been tied to the measure's defeat.
Source: courtnewsohio.govOn 20 October 2026 the court ruled 7-0 in Bristolville 25 Developer v. Village of Lordstown (2026-Ohio-4073) that the village owes no site plan review while its data center moratorium is in effect, and that filing plans before the moratorium did not vest a right to a zoning permit. The developer proposed four buildings on about 133 to 153 acres straddling the Trumbull-Mahoning line. The ruling gives Ohio's roughly 140 local moratoria their first high-court backing against developer challenges.
Source: enr.comA 5 October 2026 count found 21 Ohio data center measures in 18 jurisdictions, more than half of the 39 nationwide; 35 of the 39 are on the 3 November ballot and four were decided earlier in 2026. Proposed bans: Conneaut, Defiance, Oregon and Sunbury (above 25 MW), Granville, Hubbard, Pataskala, Piqua, Trenton, Upper Sandusky and Urbana. Grove City would require voter approval for developments over 50 acres, 20 MW or 500,000 gallons of water a day. Perry would require financial guarantees from hyperscale developers seeking tax incentives. Wilmington has three rezoning referendums, Ashville a referendum on terms with EdgeConneX, Monroeville an advisory question, and Monroe and Sprigg townships (Adams County) zoning initiatives.
Source: newsweek.comAs of 17 September 2026, at least 138 Ohio municipalities and townships had active data center moratoria, 23 had effective bans and at least 23 more across seven counties were considering them (Ohio Capital Journal count). Siting Radar's tracker listed 149 in force or adopted as of 22 October 2026. Butler County has a six-month moratorium covering six of its 13 townships. Developers are suing Urbana, Lordstown and Commercial Point. Named expirations: Niles and Shalersville November 2026; Lordstown, Springfield and Sunbury January 2027; Urbana March 2027; Commercial Point November 2027; Lima March 2028. Ballot measures on permanent bans are listed in a separate item.
Source: tiffinohio.netOn 5 August 2026 PUCO (Case 26-113-EL-ATA) ordered that data center customers give AEP Ohio 180 days' notice before taking default standard service offer supply; AEP Ohio then buys that energy through stand-alone auctions or spot purchases and assigns the full cost to the data center so other default-service customers are not affected.
Source: content.govdelivery.comThe citizen petition needed about 413,000 valid signatures by 1 July 2026 and had about 76,600 in late June, so it will not be on the 2026 ballot. Organizers say they will keep collecting and aim for November 2027.
Source: tribtoday.comUnveiled 9 June 2026 as a rewrite of a House bill (passed 97-0 on 18 March) that only created a study commission. Would cut new sales tax exemptions from 100 to 50 percent (75 percent for brownfield sites that bring their own power), cap local property tax abatements, end eligibility for state megaproject incentives, require data centers drawing more than 250 MW from the grid to generate or procure their own electricity, require every electric distribution utility to file a data center tariff with a separate rate class, require closed-loop cooling, and require a surety bond deposited with the tax commissioner. The Senate informally passed the bill on 10 June, setting it aside without a recorded vote; talks with the House collapsed over the sales tax exemption and no further action was found through 23 October 2026, with lawmakers not due back until after the 3 November election.
Source: wtap.comThe 2025 state budget (HB 96) ended the data center sales tax exemption, but Gov. DeWine vetoed that provision. On 9 June 2026 House Speaker Matt Huffman said he lacked the 60 votes to override. Existing agreements, some running 40 years, cover 18 companies and at least $2.3 billion.
Source: signalohio.orgOn 27 May 2026 Gov. DeWine's office paused new offers of the sales and use tax exemption on data center construction materials and equipment while the legislature studies the industry. No end date was given. The exemption cost about $554 million in 2024 and nearly $1.6 billion in 2025; existing agreements are not affected.
Source: cleveland19.comThe PUCO chair told lawmakers on 27 May 2026 that the commission has directed FirstEnergy to propose a data center tariff and that staff recommended one in AES Ohio's rate case. PUCO is also reviewing transmission cost allocation with a possible separate data center class. AEP Ohio reported 5,642 MW signed under its tariff, against more than 30,000 MW of requests in 2024.
Source: search-prod.lis.state.oh.usInterim Development Control Overlay 89 was adopted 11 February 2026 for three months and extended nine months on 1 April 2026; it now runs to 11 February 2027 and temporarily regulates new or expanded data centers across more than 22,000 parcels in CC-A, CG-A, UM, DD, ML and MG districts while permanent zoning text is written. The city expects to release draft regulations in November 2026.
Source: cincinnati-oh.govThe Ohio Manufacturers' Association Energy Group appealed the tariff as discriminatory. Briefing was due 24 March 2026 and no ruling had been reported as of the sources checked. Other pending 2026 bills tracked by the same source include SB 374 (limit exemptions from October 2027), SB 381 (PUCO approval before connection), HB 784 (water reporting) and HB 695 (NDAs).
Source: farmoffice.osu.eduIntroduced in February 2026 by Reps. David Thomas and Tristan Rader. Would require large data centers to sign long-term service agreements with minimum billing demand, exit fees or liquidated damages, and collateral or guarantees before construction, and bar utilities from shifting data center costs to other customers, mirroring the PUCO-approved AEP Ohio tariff. Not passed.
Source: wysu.orgApproved by PUCO in July 2025 for new data center loads of 25 MW or more. Customers pay for at least 85 percent of contracted capacity under a 12-year term, with an exit fee of 36 months of minimum charges and collateral equal to half of total minimum charges. PUCO rejected a rehearing bid by Amazon, Google and others in September 2025. The order ended AEP Ohio's pause on new data center agreements in central Ohio.
Source: datacenterdynamics.comPassed 30 April 2025 and effective August 2025. Lets large customers take power from generation on property they own or control, built and run by third parties, without using utility wires, and creates a mercantile customer self-power system category for customers above 700,000 kWh a year; bars utilities from providing behind-the-meter generation; ends electric security plans in favor of rate cases every three years.
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