Subnational jurisdiction · as of 2026-09-06
Ohio has no statewide data-center siting statute and no exemption removing a data center itself from ordinary local zoning: a project proceeds under township zoning (R.C. Chapter 519) if sited in unincorporated territory, or municipal zoning (R.C. Chapter 713) inside a city or village.
The Ohio Power Siting Board's certificate-of-environmental-compatibility-and-public-need process reaches only a "major utility facility" as defined by statute (an electric generating plant designed for 50 megawatts or more, or an electric transmission line of 100 kilovolts or more, among other thresholds); a data center's own building and on-site load fall outside that definition, so a Power Siting Board certificate is triggered only by a new generating plant or high-voltage transmission line built to serve a large data center's load, not by the data center itself.
Ohio's principal data-center-specific instrument is the retail sales and use tax exemption at R.C. 122.175, first enacted in 2013 and administered by the state Tax Credit Authority: an operator must, in the aggregate, invest at least $100 million in a qualifying capital investment project and pay at least $1.5 million in annual compensation subject to Ohio income-tax withholding at the project site, in exchange for a complete or partial exemption from sales and use tax on qualifying computer data center equipment under an individually negotiated agreement.
4 instruments on record, grouped by the family of approval each one governs.
Who decides whether a data center may occupy a site, and through what approval?
Ohio Rev. Code §§ 713.06 to 713.07
Effective 1953-10-01 · Applies to both
Section 713.06 authorizes a municipal planning commission to frame and adopt a districting or zoning plan. Section 713.07 authorizes the municipality's legislative authority, once the commission certifies such a plan, to regulate and restrict the location and use of buildings and premises by district.
Source: Full text of law
Effective 2023-06-30 · Applies to both
Authorizes a board of township trustees to regulate, by resolution and in accordance with a comprehensive plan, the location, height, bulk, and use of buildings and land in the unincorporated territory of the township, and to divide the township into zoning districts.
Source: Full text of law
What authorizations govern grid connection and onsite generation?
Ohio Rev. Code §§ 4906.01, 4906.04
Effective 1981-11-15 · Applies to both
No person may commence construction of a "major utility facility" without first obtaining a certificate of environmental compatibility and public need from the Ohio Power Siting Board.
"Major utility facility" is defined to include an electric generating plant designed for, or capable of, operation at 50 megawatts or more, and an electric transmission line and associated facilities of a design capacity of 100 kilovolts or more, among other categories; it does not reach a data center's own building or on-site electrical load.
Source: Full text of law
What fiscal agreements attach a data center to its host jurisdiction?
Effective 2025-09-30 · Applies to private
Authorizes the state Tax Credit Authority to enter into an agreement completely or partially exempting the sale, storage, use, or other consumption of qualifying computer data center equipment from Ohio sales and use tax.
To qualify, one or more taxpayers operating a computer data center business at the project site must, in the aggregate, make capital investment payments of at least $100,000,000 over a period of three to six consecutive years depending on when the project began, and pay annual compensation subject to Ohio income-tax withholding of at least $1,500,000 to employees at the project site for each year of the agreement.
The exemption's percentage and duration are individually negotiated per agreement and may be reduced if the taxpayer falls out of compliance; financial statements submitted in support of an application are exempt from Ohio's public-records law. First enacted in 2013 (House Bill 59, 130th General Assembly) and most recently amended by the FY2026-27 biennial budget act (House Bill 96, 136th General Assembly).
Source: Full text of law
Every entry cites the instrument it describes. None of it is legal advice: verify a citation before relying on it. Full sourcing: read the methodology. The rest of the record: all jurisdictions.