To amend sections 122.17, 122.175, and 3745.015 and to enact sections 122.55, 149.437, 1521.301, 1521.302, 1521.303, 4582.432, 4941.01, 4941.02, 4941.03, 4941.04, 4941.05, 4941.06, 5709.94, and 6111.70 of the Revised Code regarding data centers.
HB646 creates the Data Center Study Commission within the Ohio Department of Development. The commission is tasked with studying the effects of data centers in Ohio and is made up of 13 members appointed by the Governor, the Speaker of the House, and the President of the Senate, including members with expertise in data center operations, agriculture, county government, rural electric cooperatives, water and environmental impacts, townships, municipalities, public utilities, and economic development and tax incentives. The commission must meet at least four times, including public hearings and expert testimony, and must examine a broad set of issues related to data centers.
The study topics include environmental impacts, effects on the electric grid and consumer utility rates, water usage and wastewater discharge, noise and light pollution, local economic impacts, farmland impacts, national security value, artificial intelligence development, and reports of foreign propaganda aimed at generating opposition to data centers. Within six months after the effective date, the commission must submit a report to the Governor and General Assembly containing findings, legislative recommendations, and nonbinding best practices to guide local decision-making. The commission terminates after issuing its report.
The bill does not directly regulate data centers or amend operating standards immediately; instead, it creates a temporary advisory body to gather information and recommend future policy. Its practical effect is to place data centers, utility impacts, water use, farmland preservation, and local land-use concerns under formal state review, potentially shaping later legislation affecting environmental permitting, energy policy, taxation, and local government decision-making. Because the commission is housed in the Department of Development and includes legislative and subject-matter appointees, it may influence how state agencies and lawmakers frame future data center policy.
The voting history suggests broad support for the bill. It advanced out of committee on a 9-3 vote and then passed the House unanimously, 97-0. The lack of recorded committee transcripts limits insight into detailed debate, but the strong floor vote indicates general agreement that data centers warrant a focused study rather than immediate regulatory action. The bill’s structure also suggests an effort to balance economic development interests with concerns about infrastructure and community impacts.
The main points of contention appear to center on the real-world impacts of data centers, especially electricity demand, utility rates, water consumption, wastewater discharge, noise, light pollution, and effects on farmland and local communities. The inclusion of experts on rural electric cooperatives, water and environmental impacts, agriculture, and public utilities indicates that these issues were likely important to lawmakers. The bill also explicitly directs the commission to consider national security and artificial intelligence benefits, as well as alleged foreign propaganda opposing data centers, reflecting a broader debate over whether data centers are primarily an economic-development asset or a source of local and environmental strain.