When Meta announced that an $800 million data center was going to be built in Middleton Township, it raised some eyebrows. It will continue the debate that looks to take hold in the United States (U.S.): Are data centers worth it? 

The building of the data center follows a trend for Ohio and the U.S., as data centers have proliferated in the American landscape. According to Meta, the data center facility in Middleton Township will be AI-optimized and will be powered by 100% renewable energy. It is set to be 715,000 square feet on a 280-acre site. The facility will have multiple data center buildings within the site and is set to be completed by 2027. 

Data centers have been seen as having a positive economic impact on the states in which they are located. The Ohio Chamber of Commerce Research Foundation recently released a study showing how Ohio’s data centers have fared.  

“In less than a decade, Ohio has vaulted into the top tier of North American data center markets, attracting over $40 billion in private investment…The report confirms that data centers are a powerful economic engine for Ohio,” said the chamber in a press release from Oct. 2. 

According to the chamber’s study, the data center industry in Ohio has provided over 95,000 jobs across supply chains, operations and construction in 2024. The study also suggests that the industry could become as prominent as the state’s agricultural and automotive industries, stating that it can support 132,500 jobs by 2030. Middleton Township Trustee Mike Moulton sees the same job potential in the Meta Data Center.  

“This would be one of our top three largest employers in Middleton Township. The salary figures are good, especially if you’re getting out of school,” said Moulton. “If you were an IT [information technology] guy, if you’re an electrician, if you can walk into a place making $80,000, that’s a good figure… You’re employing 100 people, maybe 150 people, you’re a major employer in this township.” 

Moulton had also pointed out that the data center will help assist local school districts once it is operational.  

“One of the things they said they’re going to bring, besides the jobs, is that they are very big on supporting local education,” said Moulton. “On their Facebook page, they just announced that they opened up their community grant program to Wood County, making public schools within the county and nonprofits within the county eligible to apply for a grant through them.”  

While the Meta Data Center seems to be a benefit to the state and the local community, there has been pushback on the need for data centers. In a recent article by the Toledo Blade, there has been tension between Lucas County and Waterville Township over the decision to have data centers within the township. The township is claiming they want more control over the process of when a data center could be built, proposing a text amendment to change their zoning code. Lucas County pushed back on the amendment. Julie Theroux, trustee for Waterville Township, said in the article that the township’s trustees are sticking with the amendment and that the county had wanted “an industrial overlay instead.” This would have essentially specified certain areas for the building of data centers. Theroux said keeping the amendment will better suit their community.  

“This decision was not about inviting data centers but ensuring that we have a voice in any future proposals. It’s about keeping control local,” said Theroux in the article.  

Along with government tension, there has also been research that questions how beneficial data centers actually are. Molly Bryden, a researcher at the nonprofit research institute, Policy Matters Ohio, has her reservations about data centers’ economic impact and their ability to create jobs.  

“Data centers are heavily subsidized by the state. While they do create a lot of jobs during the construction phase, they don’t create many jobs relative to the amount of state revenue that Ohio is forgoing due to these expensive tax breaks that the state offers. The data center proposed near Bowling Green is expected to create around 100 jobs. This is pretty negligible considering the broader economic landscape; data centers just aren’t an effective tool for economic growth and job creation,” said Bryden. 

A 2017 US Chamber of Commerce study supports Bryden’s sentiment, as the study found data centers had an average of 1,688 workers during the construction phase. However, once operational, they provide an average of 157 permanent jobs.  

Bryden also makes it clear that data centers will have a detrimental energy strain on the state.  

“Our regional grid operator, PJM [Pennsylvania-New Jersey-Maryland] Interconnection, has reported that the majority of forecasted load growth over the next few years is driven by data center demand,” said Bryden. “This is because there’s an imbalance between the amount of electricity supply we have across the PJM region and the electricity demand; those capacity prices increased by over 800%, which resulted in the rate hikes that residential and small commercial customers are seeing on their electricity bills.” 

A recent Bloomberg News analysis supports Bryden, stating that “electricity now costs as much as 267% more for a single month than it did five years ago in areas located near significant data center activity.” 

Moulton is not oblivious to the possible increased energy rates that the area might face.  

  “I live here, I’m a resident too, I pay for electricity and I don’t want to see electric costs go up,” said Moulton. “ But if you’re supporting schools, if you’re improving the landscape, I like looking over a cornfield myself. But if somebody’s going to develop it, there are worse things that it could be.” 

Data centers have also been seen to have a negative environmental impact, according to Bryden.   

“Data centers are very resource-intensive, so they use a ton of electricity. That electricity also produces a lot of heat, so they use a corresponding amount of water to keep those centers cool. Without accountability or expansive requirements to pursue some energy efficiency measures, it is possible that they’re going to continue producing more carbon emissions,” said Bryden.  

A recent study from the Environmental and Energy Institute pointed out that carbon emissions from data centers have increased by 300% since 2018 and contribute to about 2% of all U.S. emissions.  

In terms of water usage and supply, Moulton claimed it should not be a problem with the Meta Data Center. 

“From what I understand, no [there are not any worries]. They will be using Bowling Green City Water, and there won’t be any groundwater use…The water that they use gets cycled through many times before it gets filtered back out again and replaced,” said Moulton.  

Bryden had also stated that Ohio state law has actually made it harder for projects like the Meta Data Center to use renewable energy.  

“Ohio Senate Bill 52 is a law that requires public hearings for a utility-scale renewable project to get permit approval. As a result, a third of Ohio counties have established local solar bans and restricted zones for renewable utility-scale development. I think it’s important to recognize the dissonance between how state lawmakers have created more restrictions around renewable development, which is a very important component of ultimately mitigating the strain on our electricity grid that data centers add,” said Bryden.  

To offset the possible negative economic and environmental effects data centers pose,   Bryden suggested Ohio should have accountability measures that other states, such as Minnesota, have towards data centers. 

“Minnesota just passed a law that really expanded regulation around data centers and set up guardrails to make sure that communities were more insulated from all of the economic and environmental harms that could result from the data centers. Minnesota now requires data centers to pay into an account that will be used to support weatherization and conservation measures for residential homes. This can bring down residential energy costs and mitigate growing energy burdens, which we’re seeing as a direct result of the data center boom,” said Bryden. 

In a world where data centers are sprouting everywhere, Bryden stated accountability and transparency are paramount in the relationship between data centers and their local community.  

“I think that there are definitely a lot of opportunities to enhance community oversight in how these data centers impact our communities,” said Bryden. “We need to see stronger reporting requirements and disclosures around projected energy use or water use. Without that level of transparency, the whole process is very opaque, and communities don’t really have enough context to be able to have a say in the development that’s taking place in their communities.”