Business 3 min read By Callum Montgomery
Ohio towns vote against data centers as OpenAI pledges to cover grid costs
Voters in dozens of localities rejected data center projects on Election Day, and OpenAI responded with a pledge to pay electricity and grid costs for campuses it owns.
Voters in dozens of American localities rejected data center projects on Election Day, and OpenAI has responded by promising to pay the electricity and grid costs of campuses it owns. The local votes, concentrated in Ohio, suggest that the AI infrastructure boom has not been halted by the midterm elections but is facing a new price: public consent and a larger share of the bills.
Voters rejected data centers in about 40 localities on Election Day. Around 28 measures passed in 25 localities, all of them opposing data centers. Ohio was the centre of the activity, with eighteen municipalities passing measures, in a state that already has 125 moratoriums in place. Most of the measures were not outright bans but limits and size thresholds that would restrict what can be built and how large it can be.
The results were often decisive. In Sunbury, Ohio, residents voted 79-21 to ban projects above 25 megawatts, a vote that followed a proposal from Amazon worth $2 billion. In Trenton, a ban passed 80-20 even though Amazon Web Services is building a 250 megawatt site in the area. In Hubbard, a ban passed 76-24, and the mayor said a 300 megawatt project there is now dead. In Perry, 87 per cent of voters backed guarantees and noise limits for companies seeking tax breaks. In Grove City, a 55-45 vote is now required for projects covering more than 50 acres or drawing more than 20 megawatts.
The backlash has also reached state government. Texas Governor Greg Abbott paused new grid connections for data centers in August. Polling cited in the reporting found that more than 70 per cent of Americans would oppose a data center near their home, and rising electricity prices were the most frequently cited reason. That concern about household bills has become the central political argument against the facilities, rather than abstract worries about technology.
OpenAI published a National Community Compact on Thursday, the day after the votes. The company pledges to pay electricity and grid costs for the campuses it owns, and to provide financial guarantees before major spending begins so that utilities are protected if projects falter. OpenAI says it has already been doing these things and that the compact simply puts them in writing. The move follows a community-first infrastructure plan launched by Microsoft in January, and a non-binding White House pledge signed by seven firms to supply their own power.
Taken together, the moves show the industry shifting from asking for tax breaks towards offering direct payments to the communities that host its facilities. Whether those commitments will be binding or enforceable remains unclear, and the compact itself does not settle that question. There is also a risk that projects turned down in some towns will simply relocate to counties that are still willing to say yes, meaning the pressure may move rather than end.
Source: fortune.com
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