Episode Details

As Hilliard faces fast-approaching deadlines tied to state and federal permitting for the proposed Amazon data center along Scioto-Darby Road, local advocates Paul Lambert and Cathy Cowan-Becker joined the us to outline the rapidly escalating number of changes affecting community interests, state-level legislation, and the energy demands of hyperscale data infrastructure.

The immediate concern centers on a pending Ohio EPA air permit that would authorize approximately 150 Tier 2 diesel generators at the Hilliard site. The draft permit, now open for public comment, has heightened fears about air quality, particulate pollution, and the proximity of large-scale industrial equipment to homes, schools, and parks.

A Regional Pattern

Cowan-Becker emphasized that Hilliard is far from alone. Across Central Ohio, municipalities and townships are increasingly moving to slow or halt data center development altogether.

Within the past several months, Jerome Township enacted a nine-month moratorium on data centers, while Washington Township adopted a 90-day pause and urged Dublin to follow suit. In Dublin, resident opposition has delayed plans in the West Innovation District, with the most recent proposal scheduled for January discussion excluding data centers entirely. Further south, South Bloomfield and Ashville approved a six-month moratorium, and in Wilmington, a proposed Amazon facility has generated enough resistance to table a planning vote amid organized community opposition.

While these actions do not permanently block projects, both guests noted that they buy time for residents to organize, educate themselves, and signal political resistance which is sometimes enough to cause developers to abandon sites altogether.

Federal Retreat, Local Accountability?

The discussion also addressed recent announcements by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which has stated it will no longer weigh human health impacts (so-called “externalities”) as heavily when evaluating regulations, instead focusing primarily on economic effects to industry.

Cowan-Becker explained that while this shift weakens federal oversight, it increases the importance of local decision-making, where elected officials remain directly accountable to residents.

However, both guests warned that state law increasingly limits local control.

HB 15 and “Behind-the-Meter” Power

Much of that constraint stems from House Bill 15, which allows large energy users (explicitly including data centers) to build private, behind-the-meter power generation without meaningful local review.

According to Cowan-Becker, this effectively guarantees that approving a data center also approves a fossil-fuel power plant next to it:

“If you approve a data ce