House panel takes up plan to assess data center impacts

Members of the House Technology & Innovation Committee probed sponsors Tuesday on the mechanics of their proposed data center study commission.
Rep. Kellie Deeter, R-Norwalk, and Rep. Gary Click, R-Vickery, told colleagues their measure seeks to quantify the impact of the surge in data centers over recent years (HB 643).
But while some Ohio communities have enacted temporary moratoriums in the face of local concern, both sponsors indicated they have no desire to impede the state's economic growth.

“This is not about stopping development," Deter said. "It is about ensuring that growth is responsible, transparent and aligned with the long-term interests of Ohio communities."
Responding to Rep. Ashley Bryant Bailey, D-Cincinnati, Click said he had briefly entertained including in the bill a six-month moratorium covering the duration of the commission’s work.
However, he later surmised that a pause would only slow down the process and potentially interfere with local jurisdictions’ ability to choose whether they want data centers in the first place.
“And so, if we do a statewide blanket moratorium at this point that could inhibit some people that don't want to be inhibited,” Click said, “I want to be careful about imposing my will or the Legislature's will on some of these local subdivisions that they may have already figured out with their constituents.”
The bill, introduced in January, would create a 13-member commission, which would hold four public meetings before submitting its findings with the governor and General Assembly. Its charge would be to gather input and examine those facilities' impact on the environment, electrical grid, local economy and more.
Click told Rep. Steve Demetriou, R-Bainbridge Twp., that the governor, the Senate president, the House speaker and the minority leaders in each chamber would have 30 days to appoint members. The panel would have 45 days after the bill becomes law to conduct its first meeting, the sponsor added.
By giving the commission six months to provide a report, he argued the bill strikes a solid balance.
“We don't want to rush it so that it's not a good job, but we do have a time clock on there that starts the moment we pass this bill,” Click said.
The commission's construction was of particular interest for Rep. Christine Cockley, D-Columbus, and Rep. Ron Ferguson, R-Wintersville.
Ferguson said that the panel should include both proponents and opponents of data centers to ensure a balanced perspective is achieved.
“You want people in that room that aren't simply guiding it to make it happen, but that are actually challenging and coming up with what the bad things possibly could be so that you actually get the best solution,” he said.
Cockley asked why the measure does not list qualifications to be part of the commission, saying that it would be possible for lawmakers or data center executives to serve as members.
Click responded that he trusts the people making the appointments to pick qualified people, adding that sponsors did not want to “hold that tight a grasp.”
The bill is just one pending proposal to establish a study commission to probe developing areas of technology, with others including panels on quantum computing (HB 650) and artificial intelligence (HB 663).
Rep. Ty Mathews, R-Findlay, advised that coordinating the work of those study commissions would give lawmakers a better sense for the nascent technologies’ growing footprint.
Chair Rep. Thad Claggett, R-Newark, said that tackling both quantum and AI are important undertakings for the Legislature.
“This is not should we have beans or potatoes for supper,” he said. “This is the short history and a long history of our economic system in America right now."