How AI Data Centers Move In (Step by Step)

This pattern has played out across Ohio, including Bowling Green:

1. Shell companies are created to quietly represent a much larger tech corporation.

2. These shell companies approach individual farmers and landowners, offering top dollar for land.

3. Private contracts are signed one by one.

4. Contracted landowners are encouraged to attend township or zoning meetings to request zoning changes or exemptions for their parcels.

5. Municipalities grant individual exemptions, not realizing the larger picture.

6. Only after approvals are secured does the major corporation publicly announce itself.

At that point, the project is effectively a done deal.

How Communities Are Fighting Back

Once approvals are granted, stopping a project outright is extremely difficult. But communities are organizing around one key tool:

• Local moratoriums on zoning changes and exemptions for data centers

These pauses give communities time to assess impacts, demand transparency, and push for stronger local control before more land is locked in.

Why This Matters for All of Us 

Data centers are not neutral development. They have real, measurable impacts:

• Higher electric bills: Research shows large data centers are already increasing electricity costs for consumers.

• Massive tax breaks: Ohio data centers have claimed billions in tax exemptions, shifting costs onto residents.

• Water use and pollution: Federal regulators are moving toward allowing data centers to dump wastewater into fresh water sources.

• Minimal local benefit: These facilities create few permanent jobs while consuming enormous public resources.

Despite this, Ohio still offers one of the most generous data center tax breaks in the country.

The Current Policy Fight

Right now, advocates are pushing for:

• Overriding the governor’s veto that preserved data center tax breaks

• Eliminating or scaling back sales tax exemptions for data centers

• Getting candidates on the record about where they stand

• Giving counties and municipalities clear authority to stop or limit projects

Industry groups are aggressively pushing back, funding studies that claim economic benefits while ignoring rising costs to residents.

Local Resistance Is Growing

Communities across Ohio are speaking out, demanding pauses, hearings, and transparency. From Wood County to Wilmington, Lucas County to Lordstown, residents are asking the same question: Who is this development really for?

This is not about being a luddite. It is about transparency, local control, and making sure communities are not sacrificed for corporate speed and secrecy.

If we don’t tell this story early, someone else will tell it for us.