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As Introduced
136th
General Assembly
Regular
Session
H. B. No. 710
2025-2026
Representatives Demetriou, Workman
To
amend section 163.01 and to enact sections 9.71, 9.711, and 4933.71
of the Revised Code
to
prohibit public support for, and limit the construction of, new data
centers.
BE
IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF OHIO:
Section
1.
That
section 163.01 be amended and sections 9.71, 9.711, and 4933.71 of
the Revised Code be enacted to read as follows:
Sec.
9.71.
(A)
As used in this section:
(1)
"Economic development assistance" has the same meaning as
in section 9.66 of the Revised Code.
(2)
"Incentive" means any tax credit, grant, loan, economic
development assistance, or funding of any kind from the state, a
state agency, a political subdivision, a taxing authority, or the
nonprofit corporation formed under section 187.01 of the Revised Code
or any of its subsidiaries.
(3)
"Political subdivision" has the same meaning as in section
2744.01 of the Revised Code.
(4)
"New data center" means a facility that meets both of the
following:
(a)
The facility consists of one or more buildings dedicated to housing
computer systems, servers, storage, and network equipment to collect,
process, store, and distribute large amounts of data.
(b)
As of the effective date of this section, both of the following are
met:
(i)
Construction of the facility has not commenced;
(ii)
No final local, zoning, or land use approval regarding the facility
has been issued.(B)(1) Neither the state nor any political
subdivision shall award an incentive for the construction or
operation of a new data center.
(2)
If the state or a political subdivision determines that an incentive
has been awarded in violation of this section, the entity shall
refund the incentive according to the procedure adopted by the state
agency or political subdivision that awarded the incentive.
(3)
Any state agency or political subdivision that awards incentives
shall adopt procedures for the review of complaints pertaining to
violations of division (B)(1) of this section.
Sec.
9.711.
(A)
As used in this section:
(1)
"New data center" has the same meaning as in section 9.71
of the Revised Code.
(2)
"Political subdivision" means a county, township, or any
other body corporate and politic that is responsible for government
activities in a geographic area smaller than that of the state,
except for a municipal corporation.
(3)
"Prime farmland" has the same meaning as in section 1513.01
of the Revised Code;
(4)
"Public land" includes real property located in this state
that is owned by the state or a political subdivision.
(B)
Except as provided in division (C) of this section, no new data
center shall be constructed on prime farmland, public land, or land
located within a platted residential neighborhood.
(C)
A new data center may be constructed on prime farmland if both of the
following are met:
(1)
The prime farmland is voluntarily sold.
(2)
The board of county commissioners adopts a resolution authorizing the
construction of a new data center on the prime farmland.
Sec.
163.01.
As
used in sections 163.01 to 163.22 of the Revised Code:
(A)
"Public agency" means any governmental corporation, unit,
organization, instrumentality, or officer authorized by law to
appropriate property in the courts of this state.
(B)
"Private agency" means any corporation, firm, partnership,
voluntary association, joint-stock association, or company that is
not a public agency and that is authorized by law to appropriate
property in the courts of this state.
(C)
"Agency" means any public agency or private agency.
(D)
"Court" means the court of common pleas or the probate
court of any county in which the property sought to be appropriated
is located in whole or in part.
(E)
"Owner" means any individual, partnership, association, or
corporation having any estate, title, or interest in any real
property sought to be appropriated.
(F)
"Real property," "land," or "property"
includes any estate, title, or interest in any real property that is
authorized to be appropriated by the agency in question, unless the
context otherwise requires.
(G)
"Public utility" has the same meaning as in section 4905.02
of the Revised Code and also includes a public utility owned or
operated by one or more municipal corporations, an electric
cooperative, and an agency holding a certificate of public
convenience and necessity granted by the federal energy regulatory
commission.
(H)(1)
"Public use" does not include any taking that is for
conveyance to a private commercial enterprise, economic development,
or solely for the purpose of increasing public revenue, unless the
property is conveyed or leased to one of the following:
(a)
A public utility, municipal power agency, or common carrier;
(b)
A private entity that occupies a port authority transportation
facility or an incidental area within a publicly owned and occupied
project;
(c)
A private entity when the agency that takes the property establishes
by a preponderance of the evidence that the property is a blighted
parcel or is included in a blighted area.
(2)
"Public
use" does not include any taking to acquire property for use as
a new data center, as that term is defined in section 9.71 of the
Revised Code.
(3)
All
Except
as otherwise provided in division (H)(1) and (2) of this section, all
of
the following are presumed to be public uses: utility facilities,
roads, sewers, water lines, public schools, public institutions of
higher education, private institutions of higher education that are
authorized to appropriate property under section 3333.08 of the
Revised Code, public parks, government buildings, port authority
transportation facilities, projects by an agency that is a public
utility, and similar facilities and uses of land.
(I)
"Electric cooperative" has the same meaning as in section
4928.01 of the Revised Code.
(J)
"Good faith offer" means the written offer that an agency
that is appropriating property must make to the owner of the property
pursuant to division (B) of section 163.04 of the Revised Code before
commencing an appropriation proceeding.
(K)
"Goodwill" means the calculable benefits that accrue to a
business as a result of its location, reputation for dependability,
skill or quality, and any other circumstances that result in probable
retention of old, or acquisition of new, patronage.
(L)
"Municipal power agency" has the same meaning as in section
3734.058 of the Revised Code.
(M)
"Port authority transportation facility" means any facility
developed, controlled, or operated by a port authority for the
purpose of providing passenger, cargo, or freight transportation
services, such as airports, maritime ports, rail facilities, transit
facilities, and support facilities directly related to any airport,
maritime port, rail facility, or transit facility.
Sec.
4933.71.
(A)
As used in this section, "new data center" has the same
meaning as in section 9.71 of the Revised Code.
(B)
Notwithstanding any provision of the Revised Code to the contrary, no
new data center shall be approved, permitted, or interconnected to
receive utility service unless the new data center developer
demonstrates to the satisfaction of the public utilities commission
that the new data center's electric load will not result in increased
electricity rates for residential, agricultural, or small business
customers.
(C)
Compliance with division (B) of this section shall be conclusively
presumed where the new data center developer constructs or
contractually secures newly constructed nuclear or natural gas–fired
electric generation capacity equal to one hundred per cent of the
data center's projected peak electric load.
(D)
A new data center not utilizing nuclear or natural gas–fired
generation may be approved under division (B) of this section only
upon an affirmative finding by the commission, supported by
substantial evidence, that the data center will comply with division
(E) of this section.
(E)
All generation transmission, distribution, capacity, congestion, and
ancillary service costs attributable to a new data center shall be
fully borne by the developer and no cross-subsidization or cost
shifting to other customer classes shall occur.
(F)
The commission shall require enforceable financial assurances,
including performance bonds, letters of credit, or escrowed security,
sufficient to fully protect ratepayers in the event that projected
cost neutrality under this section is not achieved.
Section
2.
That
existing section 163.01 of the Revised Code is hereby repealed.