Voters in Ohio and Kansas set megawatt and water limits on data centers
Grove City, Ohio, will put any project above 20 megawatts or 500,000 gallons of water a day to a citywide vote. Several towns capped data centers at 25 megawatts. All results are unofficial.
By The Gradient Report Staff
Key points
Ballotpedia counted 41 data center measures on local ballots on Nov. 3, including 21 in Ohio.
Grove City, Ohio, approved a charter amendment requiring a public vote on developments that use more than 20 megawatts at peak or more than 500,000 gallons of water a day. It passed with 54.61% in unofficial results.
Conneaut, Ohio, and Ottawa, Kansas, approved 25-megawatt limits, by unofficial counts of 2,301 to 1,218 and 2,882 to 1,129.
Emporia, Kansas, approved a ban on high-impact data centers, but the city says it cannot take effect until a court rules on pending legal questions.
Voters in Grove City, Ohio, approved a charter amendment on Nov. 3 that requires a citywide vote before any development that uses more than 20 megawatts of electricity at peak or more than 500,000 gallons of water a day. Issue 28 passed with 54.61% of the vote, according to unofficial Franklin County Board of Elections results reported by WOSU.
Either threshold alone triggers a vote, according to the city's information page on the amendment. So does a development of 50 or more contiguous acres, or an expansion that raises acreage, power demand or water use by 10% or more.
"We are extremely proud," organizer Karen Church told WOSU. She called the amendment "one step of many" toward giving residents a say on the largest developments.
Grove City's was one of 41 data center measures on local ballots on Nov. 3, according to Ballotpedia's list. Twenty-one were in Ohio, in 18 jurisdictions. In Ballotpedia's summaries, Grove City's is the only Nov. 3 measure that mentions water use. The others that set a size threshold do it by electrical demand.
The 25-megawatt line
Conneaut, Ohio, approved Issue 10, a charter amendment that limits data center development to a maximum of 25 megawatts, by 2,301 votes to 1,218, according to unofficial Ashtabula County Board of Elections results reported by the Star Beacon. Ballotpedia describes the limit as "aggregate monthly electrical demand or peak load greater than 25 megawatts."
In Ottawa, Kansas, a citizen-led ordinance restricting any data center in city limits to "25 megawatts or less" passed 2,882 to 1,129, KOFO reported.
Sunbury, Ohio, approved a charter amendment banning data centers of 25 megawatts or more with all unofficial votes counted, Fortune reported. Fortune said the measure targeted a possible hyperscale Amazon project.
Trenton, Ohio, approved its ban with about 80% of the vote, according to the Cincinnati Enquirer and Fortune. The charter amendment prohibits new data centers larger than 25 megawatts in city limits, WCPO reported when the Ohio Supreme Court ordered the vote in September.
The Enquirer also reported that a ban passed in Defiance, Ohio, where Ballotpedia lists a 25-megawatt threshold. In Oregon, Ohio, where the proposed amendment also uses 25 megawatts, the Lucas County Board of Elections had posted no results as of midnight, the Enquirer said. 13abc reported in August that Vantage Data Centers was the prospective developer for a project there.
Measures in Conneaut, Sunbury, Trenton and Defiance, Ohio, and Ottawa, Kansas, set their limits at 25 megawatts.AI-generated illustration
Kansas thresholds start at 10 megawatts
El Dorado, Kansas, approved a 10-year ban on high-impact data centers and certain battery energy storage systems, 2,965 to 1,183, KAKE reported. The measure defines high-impact data centers as those with electrical capacity over 10 megawatts, according to KWCH.
Emporia approved its ban on high-impact data centers 4,346 to 2,891, KAKE reported. KWCH said the Emporia definition starts at a peak electrical load of 10 megawatts. The city said in August that if voters approved the measure, it "cannot be published or take effect until the pending legal questions are resolved or otherwise ordered," according to a City of Emporia notice.
Bans and other votes in Ohio
The Enquirer reported that outright bans passed in Hubbard, Pataskala, Urbana, Upper Sandusky, Piqua and Granville. In Urbana, the Champaign County Board of Elections reported that voters approved a measure to prohibit construction of data centers, WHIO reported. Urbana voters also recalled Mayor Bill Bean.
Other Ohio results, as reported by the Enquirer:
Ashville: about 82% voted to reverse the village council's agreement with EdgeConneX to build two data centers.
Perry: more than 87% approved an ordinance requiring developers that seek tax abatements or other incentives to offer financial guarantees.
Wilmington: about 80% rejected rezoning for a data center project in each of four referendums.
Results for Monroe and Sprigg townships in Adams County and for Monroeville were not yet available, the Enquirer said.
Outside Ohio, voters in Alhambra, California, approved a ban on data centers in all city zones, and in Edgewater, Florida, a charter amendment barring new data centers passed, Reason reported. In Joliet Township, Illinois, 79% voted no on an advisory question about approving AI data centers, according to unofficial Will County results cited by Reason.
Counties have not certified any of these results. Edgerton, Kansas, will vote on the same type of ordinance in an upcoming special election, KOFO reported.
A study maps a quarter of the world's data centers in water-stressed areas. Tech companies and environmental groups are meeting on a national framework that covers water.
University of Michigan researchers modeled a 200 MW data center on Michigan's grid. Total water fell 44% with air-cooled chillers, and electricity use rose 32%.
Two new laws tie local permits and business licenses to water disclosures. Quorum counts 42 state data center measures that became law across the 2025 and 2026 sessions.
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