New Data Center Build Confirmed in Adams County, Ohio

A new data center has been confirmed for Adams County, Ohio, at the former Dayton Power & Light landfill site. According to a regulatory filing from AES Ohio, the proposed operator has requested an initial electricity load of 100MW in 2028, rising to 1.3GW by 2032.

Since the filing, the US Army Corps of Engineers has issued a permit allowing construction of the project, with conditions to protect local endangered species and establish a buffer zone to avoid disturbing nearby cemeteries.

The proposed development has already faced significant local opposition, with residents raising concerns about transparency, potential increases in energy costs, and pollution

Local news station WCPO-TV reported that the requested load could reach 11.4 million megawatt hours annually by 2032, 31 times Adams County’s 2025 consumption of 366,401 megawatt hours, fuelling concerns about excessive energy consumption in the county.

However, using the same formula as WCPO, based on research from FindEnergy and the MOST Policy Initiative, the data center would eclipse Adams County’s annual energy use with just the initial 2028 load request, reaching 876,000 megawatt hours that year.