Nick Owens, an attorney in Brown County, Ohio, stands on the edge of a Mt. Orab neighborhood, next to some farmland that has been sold to a data center developer. Owens is leading an effort to stop the construction of hyperscale data centers in communities like this one.
Andrea Hsu/NPR
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Andrea Hsu/NPR
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MOUNTAIN. ORAB, Ohio – The mystery of the data center in this rural Cincinnati suburb has consumed Nick Owens.
The lifelong Republican and self-described small-town lawyer has spent countless hours trying to figure out what’s happening with 1,000 acres of farmland and trees that property records show were sold to a data center developer in 2024 and 2025.
In some places, data center property is adjacent to beautiful two-story homes.
“This is the Ohio that people brag about. This is the Ohio that people love. This is small-town charm,” he says. “Living in a rural area, but enjoying the benefits of a pleasant and charming neighborhood.”
Some of the most coordinated opposition to data centers across the country arose from what happened secretly in this village of 4,300 people, a short distance down a country road from Owens’ home.
Nondisclosure agreements have hampered Owens’ efforts to learn more. But in his search, he crossed paths with another local attorney and a real estate agent who were equally alarmed. Together, they mobilized a network of volunteers in nearly all 88 counties in the state. They are Democrats, Republicans and independents. They called themselves Conserve Ohio.
“We all share the same spirit and the same passion for preserving our way of life, preserving Ohio’s future, frankly, from the invasion of the hyperscale data center,” Owens says. “It’s really beautiful.”
This fall, the group is behind ballot initiatives in 10 communities that would amend local statutes to prohibit the construction of large-scale data centers, the kind used to power artificial intelligence. It is an effort that goes beyond the temporary pauses that hundreds of municipal and county governments have adopted.
“Too often you hear politicians say, ‘Well, the community should have a voice,'” Owens says. “We are going to find out in ten communities whether the communities want them or not.”
Meanwhile, the grassroots group is working on a more ambitious task: a petition for an amendment to the state constitution that would ban large-scale data centers statewide. Their goal is to put it before Ohio voters in 2027.
Data centers bring economic benefits and heartache
It’s been more than a decade since tech companies first came to Ohio, attracted by the state’s abundant and affordable land, energy infrastructure and generous tax breaks. That combination paved the way for some of the fastest data center growth in the country.
Now, despite the economic benefits (considerable tax revenue, money for schools, numerous construction jobs, and a smaller number of permanent jobs), no one seems to want a computer science campus in their backyard, especially one shrouded in secrecy.
Signs opposing data centers outnumber campaign signs in a neighborhood in Mt. Orab, Ohio.
Andrea Hsu/NPR
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Andrea Hsu/NPR
“Should the school have extra money or the local government have extra money so that we have a constant hum and ridiculous amounts of emissions and pollution?” Owens says, noting that hyperscale data centers will require new power plants. “Our community is not for sale.”
Pressed to consider whether the state should give up all opportunities, Owens says he would consider the idea of placing data centers on former industrial sites, where they would be protected from people.
“If we’re going to have data centers, those are the prime locations,” he says, although he acknowledges that it would be cheaper and easier for a developer to build on pristine farmland than on a former coal site. “I don’t know if there are enough abandoned lots, but shouldn’t we start with those first?”
A hot electoral issue
In recent months, candidates running for state office in Ohio have been trying to convince voters that they hear their concerns, even as they stop short of supporting the kind of widespread moratorium on data centers their opponents seek.
Until recently, data center projects were not as controversial, in part because they were smaller and not built for AI.
But as the issue has gained traction, it has become a hot topic in the midterm elections, including in the tight race for a seat in the U.S. Senate. Former Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown has called his opponent, incumbent Republican Senator Jon Husted, “the face of data centers.” Brown has been reminding voters that as lieutenant governor, Husted welcomed technology companies to Ohio and defended their investments in data centers.
Husted, meanwhile, has accused Brown of hypocrisy, pointing to Brown’s past support of data centers.
Husted also introduced his own solution, pushing a bill through Congress aimed at making data centers pay for power grid upgrades and other costs associated with their massive energy use. Senate Democrats blocked the bill, calling it ineffective, leading Husted to accuse Democrats of not caring or helping.
They are not convinced that politicians will help
These political gestures have not persuaded Linda Moodie, an independent who has volunteered with Conserve Ohio. He isn’t confident that any of the candidates running for state office will “do the right thing” if elected, which is to give the people a voice in building the data center.
“I think it’s really something that a lot of us didn’t see coming and all of a sudden there’s an influx of them,” he says.
Conserve Ohio volunteer Linda Moodie (right) collects signatures for a petition to ban large-scale data centers statewide at a Halloween event in Fairfield, Ohio, on October 22, 2026.
Andrea Hsu/NPR
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Andrea Hsu/NPR
From now until Election Day, he is taking advantage of every opportunity to collect signatures to achieve a state ban on voting next year.
On a recent night, he set up a booth at the “Halloween on the Green” celebration in Fairfield, a suburb of Cincinnati. He distributed sweets to the children and clipboards with the request to the parents. Both were received with enthusiasm.
“The more it hits home, the more people will want to do something,” Moodie says.
A decline in voter enthusiasm in a Republican stronghold
Two years ago, Owens was a Trump delegate to the Republican National Convention. He won’t say how he’ll vote this fall, but he says the data center issue, along with $6 diesel, has certainly dampened Republican enthusiasm.
Throughout Mount Orab, the absence of signs in the campaign yards is notable.
“Two years ago you would have seen Donald Trump posters left and right,” Owens says.
This county, like much of rural Ohio, voted 80% for President Trump in 2024.
“There are always down votes in midterm elections,” Owens says. “But I think the enthusiasm gap for Republicans in particularly rural areas is going to be much more pronounced … than any kind of enthusiasm gap for Democrats in cities.”
Trump’s disparagement of data center opponents isn’t helping, he says, citing recent comments the president posted on his Truth Social social media platform.
“The only reason communities across America shouldn’t want data centers is if they want to end up backward and poor. If they want to be successful and rich, with much lower taxes and jobs everywhere, let data reign,” Trump wrote. “If we kill the goose that lays the golden eggs, you will only have yourselves to blame.”
Owens calls the president’s remarks “tone-deaf.”
“I mean, no one wants to be poor or backward,” he says. “I want our usual way of life.”
Construction on the Mount Orab site has not yet begun. It is not clear when he will do so. Owens says because of confidentiality agreements, people who live here don’t know anything.
For now, standing at the edge of the data center property on a crisp fall day, it’s almost silent except for the birds.
