Cleveland could become the latest Ohio city to ban new data centers.
Councilmember Charles Slife has introduced legislation that would place a one-year moratorium on new permits for data centers within city limits, calling them "exploitative" of residents.
"Economic development when done poorly can grow the economy while increasing unemployment, accelerating poverty, widening income disparities, essentially exacerbating the very challenges we seek to overcome in this city," said Slife, who represents the far West Side neighborhoods of Kamm's Corners and West Park.
Pointing to intensive water and power use typically required for data centers, Slife said he's hearing concerns from residents in a city already dealing with frequent power outages. The Public Utilities Commission of Ohio last summer confirmed FirstEnergy's "probable non-compliance" with power grid demands for parts of the West Side and neighboring suburbs. Some customers of the city-owned Cleveland Public Power customers also experience days-long outages.
"People are worried if their power is going to stay on, and I don't think that is an irrational concern when people rely on the availability of power for medical equipment or food," Slife said. "There's a feeling that just leaning into these large power users who don't create a really measurable economic benefit is not a future that people are eager to get on board with."
More than 200 data centers are in Ohio, according to a widely used industry resource, Data Center Map. 22 of those are in the Cleveland area.
With plentiful vacant land, Slife worries more will pop up in Cleveland before the city has a chance to regulate. The one-year moratorium would give the city time to review zoning code and assess infrastructure demands, he said.
"Something needs to be regulated at the local level so that we're not ending up in problematic situations down the road because we're trying to kind of build the train as it was going down the tracks," Slife said.
At least 18 other Ohio municipalities are considering or have enacted similar moratoriums.
Mayfield Heights resident Lily Gabriel grew up in Cleveland, and she said she's hopeful the city's legislation could prompt neighboring suburbs to consider similar restrictions.
"When Cleveland does something, the suburbs tend to follow suit," Gabriel said. "We all live in the same environment, and if [data centers] aren't being regulated or if there's too many of them, they're going to sap our resources, and that goes across city borders."
