Sunbury, Ohio Bans 25 MW Data Centers 2,809-763 as 14 Towns Pass Limits

Sunbury, Ohio voters passed a city charter amendment banning data center construction on Nov. 3, 2,809 votes (78.64%) to 763 (21.36%), with all six precincts reported, according to unofficial Delaware County Board of Elections results reported by Delaware Source. Fortune reported that the measure bans data centers using 25 megawatts or more.

Sunbury was one of at least 14 Ohio municipalities that passed bans or other restrictions on data centers on Tuesday, Fortune reported. The Sunbury measure was aimed at a possible hyperscale Amazon project, though the project's fate remains unclear, Fortune said, citing NBC4. Neither report says Amazon has changed its plans, and all of the figures are unofficial until the counties certify them.

21 measures in 18 Ohio towns

Ohio residents in 18 municipalities voted on 21 data center ballot measures, more than half of the 41 data center measures on ballots nationwide, according to Fortune. Voltgrid News counted the same 41 measures before the vote. Thirteen of the Ohio municipalities voted on bans or heavy restrictions, including on "high impact" campuses using more than 25 MW: Conneaut, Defiance, Granville, Grove City, Hubbard, Monroeville, Oregon, Pataskala, Piqua, Sunbury, Trenton, Upper Sandusky and Urbana.

Fortune said all five communities in central Ohio with data center measures voted against data centers. Pataskala approved a charter ban on large data centers. In Trenton, a ban passed 80% to 20%. Results in Oregon were not yet available as of midnight, Fortune said, so a final count of every measure is still open.

Which projects the votes touch

In Trenton, organizers hope the ban keeps out an 18-building Amazon Web Services data center, though it likely will not affect a four-building AWS campus already under construction nearby, Fortune reported, citing the Journal-News. Ashville residents voted in favor of blocking a data center campus that is already under construction; what that vote means for work on site is not yet clear.

Other votes set conditions rather than bans. In Wilmington, around 80% of voters rejected rezoning in four separate referendums meant to make room for a data center project. In Perry, more than 87% approved a measure requiring developers that seek tax breaks to give the village financial guarantees.

Why the 25 MW line matters

A 25 MW ceiling is far below the scale of a hyperscale AI campus, so a charter cap at that level rules such projects out in those towns regardless of land or grid access. That makes the Nov. 3 votes different from earlier pauses such as Mooresville, North Carolina's 12-month moratorium, which was a council decision rather than a binding vote by residents.

Ohio has more than 200 operating data centers, fifth among U.S. states, and companies plan to invest up to $40 billion in AI infrastructure in the state by 2030, according to state data cited by Fortune. The state already has 125 local data center moratoriums in place.

A poll of 1,650 Ohio adults by Ohio Northern University's Institute for Civics and Public Policy with SurveyUSA, published in October, found 55% opposed data center construction in the state and 22% supported it. Some 57% said they would vote for a proposed state constitutional amendment banning new data centers above 25 MW, with about 20% against and 21% undecided, Fortune reported. No statewide measure was on this year's ballot.