Akron-Canton Data Center Market

Overview

Akron-Canton covers Summit, Stark and Portage counties in Northeast Ohio, south of the Cleveland market. For decades it held a few enterprise, carrier and colocation data centers. Bitcoin miners arrived in 2021, and hyperscale developers followed in 2025 with large campuses around Canton.

History

Akron's tire industry and Canton's steel mills built the local economy. Involta, now Ark Data Centers, announced an Akron data center in 2010 and opened its first hall there in 2012. It expanded the campus in 2014 and bought SecureData 365's Canton facility in 2021.

Bitcoin mining followed. In 2021 Viking Data Centers turned a 1919 Goodyear plant in East Akron into a mining site, with BIT Mining as its anchor tenant. Bitdeer bought land in Massillon in 2023 and began mining there in late 2025.

Hyperscale interest arrived in 2025. That June, Canton annexed farmland on Central Avenue SE for what is now the Midwest Digital Gateway. In October 2025, Norton declared Quantum HPC's gas-powered campus at a former limestone mine dead after resident opposition.

The Market Today

Ark runs a two-building campus in Akron and a smaller facility in Canton. Lumen and Cogent also sell colocation in Akron. Ark plans a three-year, $468.5 million expansion of its Akron campus and aims to start by mid-2027.

Four large campuses are planned around Canton. Panattoni is building one in Perry Township, and local officials named Amazon as its end user in April 2026. Corscale plans the Midwest Digital Gateway, DAMAC Digital plans its Orchard View site, and Panattoni's Project Shelby targets a former Ford plant site. Canton City Council approved tax abatements for those three on November 2, 2026.

Advantages

• Industrial land. Former tire, auto and foundry sites offer large tracts, and some already have substations.
• Location. Akron sits about 40 miles south of Cleveland, with interstate links to Columbus and Pittsburgh.
• Network access. Akron hosts the NEO-IX internet exchange, and Ark's Akron campus also connects to Ohio IX.
• Local incentives. Canton and Perry Township grant 75% property-tax abatements for up to 30 years on large projects.
• Water. Canton has spare water capacity, and the new campuses plan closed-loop cooling.

Challenges

• Grid timing. In November 2025, AEP Ohio gave new data center load outside Central Ohio an estimated service date of late 2031. Only projects with agreements signed before July 2025 are exempt.
• Tariff terms. AEP Ohio's tariff makes new data center loads above 25 MW pay for at least 85% of contracted demand for up to 12 years. In May 2026, regulators ordered FirstEnergy to propose one too.
• Capacity costs. PJM's last three capacity auctions cleared at the price cap, which raises retail power bills.
• Local moratoria. Barberton, Alliance, Ravenna and several townships paused new data centers in 2025 and 2026. Shalersville Township extended its pause in October 2026, which stalls Bitdeer's proposed campus there. Akron now requires council approval for any new or expanded data center.
• State incentives. In May 2026, Governor Mike DeWine paused new requests for Ohio's data center sales-tax exemption.

Trends

• Mining to AI. Viking now markets its Akron mining site for AI, and Bitdeer has told investors it seeks AI tenants in Ohio.
• Developer-led hyperscale. Panattoni, Corscale and DAMAC entitle the land, and the end user often stays unnamed through approvals.
• Brownfield reuse. Applied Partners plans a data center and a factory at the former Alliance Castings plant once the city's moratorium ends.

Power and Policy

Akron-Canton sits in the grid run by PJM Interconnection. AEP Ohio serves Canton and much of Stark County. Ohio Edison, a FirstEnergy utility, serves Akron, Massillon, Alliance and Portage County, inside FirstEnergy's American Transmission Systems, Inc. (ATSI) zone. The Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO) sets tariffs, and the Ohio Power Siting Board (OPSB) approves large plants and transmission lines. In 2025, Ohio passed House Bill 15, which eased behind-the-meter generation for large users.