NEW ALBANY, Ohio — Data centers are quickly finding their homes in central Ohio. Microsoft’s plan to build a $420 million facility in New Albany got a boost from the New Albany City Council through a tax break.
Tuesday night, the council voted to waive the property tax on the building for 15 years.
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The site chosen for the project is 200 acres along Beech Road and butts up to a residential subdivision. Microsoft purchased the land in 2023 and intends to have the project completed by 2028.
People in the neighboring subdivision didn’t speak on camera but voiced their frustrations about the data center project.
They are concerned about the construction noise, which they already deal with from another major construction project on the other side of Beech Road.
A bit farther down, Erika Dietzel is renovating her century-old farmhouse. While it’s not listed for sale, she’s owned the property for years and has watched everything grow and develop around it.
“It was good. It was quiet. This house had no bushes around. It was an old farmhouse and that’s it. It's just changed,” she said.
For her, the development of the area doesn’t really bother her all that much.
“There’s nothing you can do about it. Like every change, we don’t like it as human beings, but maybe in the end it’s going to be ok for the better,” she added.
Her way of blocking out the noise and the change of scenery has been to plant scores of trees around her property. Inside the barrier of maturing and growing trees, it’s hard to notice what’s happening on the other side.
“I liked my corn fields, but as you can see, I have 175 arborvitaes I’ve planted all around and pine trees. I don’t really care what they do,” Dietzel said.
A large concern over data centers is the amount of energy they consume to run the endless data servers and various electronics.
A study from real estate company Newmark estimated the electricity usage from the largest data centers is enough to power 80,000 homes.
Such a demand requires an upgrade to infrastructure.
AEP Ohio wants data center companies to help cover the cost. The electric company is asking the state regulatory agency PUCO to impose a tariff requiring data centers to pay for 90-95% of their estimated power consumption in the first 10 years of operation even if they don’t use it.
The company argues that if the companies pull out of the project, the cost burden of the infrastructure upgrades would fall onto the shoulders of the company’s residential and business customers.
AEP Ohio provided the following statement to 10TV:
"AEP Ohio has been working with Microsoft for over a year to ensure we are able to meet their power needs. We have completed engineering studies and our transmission grid is capable of supporting this site. AEP Ohio’s priority is ensuring that we are able to reliably serve all of our customers and keep Ohio’s economy growing."
Once complete, Microsoft’s agreement filed with the city explains it will employ a minimum of 30 people at the site. Once data centers are complete, it takes relatively few people to keep them operational.