AWS US East (Ohio) Data Center Market

Overview

AWS US East (Ohio) covers the data centers Amazon Web Services runs in Ohio. Most sit on campuses in Dublin, Hilliard, New Albany and Jerome Township, around Columbus. Amazon chose the area in 2015 and opened the cloud region in October 2016. It has added buildings every year since and has spread to sites across the state.

History

Amazon came to central Ohio after a statewide tax deal. In 2014 the Ohio Tax Credit Authority granted its affiliate Vadata a sales-tax exemption on data center equipment. In 2015 Amazon announced $1.1 billion for three campuses in Dublin, Hilliard and New Albany. It dropped a fourth site in Orange Township in favor of New Albany. The three campuses became the three Availability Zones of the US East (Ohio) region at its October 2016 launch.

Each original campus grew to five buildings between 2015 and 2022. Amazon then bought land for a second ring of campuses. It added Cosgray Road and Scioto Darby Road in Hilliard, and Newton Court and 3180 Beech Road near New Albany. It also built Warner Road and Industrial Parkway in Jerome Township. Most of these buildings opened between 2023 and 2025.

In June 2023 Amazon pledged $7.8 billion more for central Ohio through 2029. In December 2024 it added $10 billion for sites outside central Ohio. That raised its planned Ohio total to more than $23 billion by 2030.

The Market Today

Nine campuses have buildings in service across Franklin, Licking and Union counties. The first buildings cover about 150,000 square feet each. The newest cover 200,000 to 260,000 square feet, and several have two stories. The Scioto Darby campus in Hilliard is approved for seven buildings. The New Albany campuses sit beside Google, Meta, Microsoft and QTS in the New Albany cluster.

Construction continues on several fronts. Five buildings are rising on the Beech Road West campus, fed by a new AEP Ohio 345 kV substation. A two-building campus is under construction in the Marysville Innovation Park. Customers reach the region through AWS Direct Connect at Cologix COL2 in Columbus.

Amazon is also preparing sites beyond Columbus. Sidney, in Shelby County, approved a seven-building campus with operations targeted by the end of 2028. Amazon holds land in Pickaway County, near Sunbury and in Jerome Township. Developers are building campuses for Amazon near Canton and in Trenton, in the Cincinnati market.

Advantages

• Network position. Central Ohio sits a few hundred miles west of Northern Virginia, close enough to pair with the US East (N. Virginia) region.
• Tax incentives. Ohio exempts qualifying data center equipment from sales tax. Cities and townships add property-tax abatements of 15 to 30 years.
• Large parcels. Flat farmland near the interstates lets Amazon assemble sites of 100 to 400 acres.
• Dedicated substations. AEP Ohio builds a new 138 kV or 345 kV substation for each large campus.
• Climate. Cool winters cut cooling energy for much of the year.

Challenges

• Grid capacity. AEP Ohio paused new data center service agreements in central Ohio in 2023. In late 2025 it said it cannot serve 9.8 GW of new requests before late 2031.
• Tariff terms. Since July 2025, new AEP Ohio data center loads over 25 MW pay for at least 85% of contracted demand. The terms last up to 12 years.
• Local votes. Sunbury voters banned data centers over 25 MW on November 3, 2026. Trenton voters passed a similar ban the same day.
• Moratoria and lawsuits. Commercial Point adopted an 18-month moratorium on data centers in May 2026. A planned Wilmington campus is stalled in federal court.
• State incentives. Ohio paused new data center tax exemption agreements in 2026. Existing agreements, including Amazon's, continue.

Trends

• Moving out from Columbus. New campuses go to Sidney, Marysville and other towns where land and power remain available.
• On-site power. AEP Ohio is installing a fuel-cell array at the Scioto Darby campus to bridge the wait for transmission upgrades.
• Developer-built campuses. Prologis and Panattoni now build campuses for Amazon to lease, alongside the sites Amazon builds itself.
• Bigger buildings. New buildings are larger, often two stories, and each new campus gets its own high-voltage substation.

Power and Policy

PJM Interconnection runs the grid and wholesale power market across Ohio. The Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO) sets retail rates and approved AEP Ohio's data center tariff in July 2025. The Ohio Power Siting Board (OPSB) approves the substations and lines that feed each campus. AEP Ohio serves most of the Columbus campuses, and Union Rural Electric delivers power to the Warner Road campus. AES Ohio serves the western sites, including Sidney and Marysville. Duke Energy Ohio serves the Trenton area.