Mt. Orab council member takes steps to stop possible data center construction

One Mt. Orab Village Council member has taken steps in an attempt to stop a possible data center from being constructed on the more than 1,000-acre mega-site located in Mt. Orab.

During the Village of Mt. Orab’s Feb. 3 regular council meeting, council member Eric Lang proposed ordinances that would put a 180-day pause on the issuing of new permits for data center development in the village. The three proposed ordinances are required to undergo the “three readings rule,” so two more readings of the ordinances are to be conducted before council will have the opportunity to vote in favor of or against the adoption of the ordinances.

“I’m offering this up,” Lang said to other council members while proposing the ordinances during the Feb. 3 meeting. “If this is not a data center, it should be a no-brainer to do this.”

The first proposed ordinance (Ordinance No. 1339), if adopted, will place a temporary zoning code moratorium for 180 days on the granting/issuing of any new permits, as well as the receipt and processing of applications for permits for data centers within the corporate limits of the Village of Mt. Orab.

The second proposed ordinance (Ordinance No. 1340), if adopted, will place a temporary zoning code moratorium for 180 days on the granting/issuing of any new permits, as well as the receipt and processing of applications for permits for small, modular reactors within the corporate limits of the Village of Mt. Orab.

The third proposed ordinance (Ordinance No. 1341), if adopted, will amend certain sections of the Village of Mt. Orab zoning code including placing a permanent ban on commercial nuclear energy facilities, including but not limited to small, modular reactors within the corporate limits of the Village of Mt. Orab.

Cheers could be heard from the crowd outside the municipal building that was live-streaming the Feb. 3 meeting, as Lang introduced the ordinances to council.

Lang, who signed a non-disclosure agreement in relation to the plans for the mega-site after taking his seat in office, is the only member of Mt. Orab Village Council thus far who has rescinded his non-disclosure agreement.

Among the concerns of Mt. Orab residents who are pushing against the possible development of a data center in their community are increased utility rates and the environmental impact it could have. When it comes to energy use, steps have been taken to protect residential consumers in areas where large data centers have been or are being developed, according to recent news reports.

KJK (Kohrman Jackson Krantz) is a full-service law firm with offices in Columbus and Cleveland, and on Dec. 22, 2025 KJK published a story on its website by Jace Libman-Phelps and Collin Harrington, “Ohio’s rising electricity bills: The legal battle over data centers and AI.”

According to information found in the story, “In July 2025, the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO) approved a tariff requiring large data centers to pay for at least 85% of their projected electricity usage for up to 12 years, regardless of actual consumption. Additionally, the tariff imposes exit fees on projects that are canceled after utilities incur costs. Key objectives of the tariff include:

• Protect ratepayers from bearing the cost of grid expansion.

• Ensuring data center operators contribute to infrastructure investments.

• Reducing risks associated with project cancellations after utilities incur significant costs.

The tariff also ended AEP Ohio’s moratorium on new data center agreements in Central Ohio, signaling that growth can continue under a framework that aligns costs with those driving demand.”

The News Democrat, Ripley Bee and Brown County Press contacted the PUCO to find if it has received any requests from energy providers such as Duke Energy or are conducting any reviews in relation to the impact a data center in Mt. Orab could have on residential consumers. The response from PUCO was that they were not aware of any requests and were not currently conducting any reviews for energy to power a data center in Mt. Orab. The representative of PUCO also noted the progress that is being made to protect residential consumers from rising utility costs due to data centers.

The News Democrat, Ripley Bee and Brown County Press also contacted Duke Energy on Feb. 5, questioning if Duke had received any requests for increased energy supply to power a data center at the location of the mega-site in the Village of Mt. Orab. The News Democrat, Ripley Bee and Brown County Press is awaiting a response from Duke Energy.

The Public Utilities Commission of Ohio on July 9, 2025 issued an order directing AEP Ohio to file new tariffs applying to data centers. The Commission adopted a settlement agreement reached by AEP Ohio, PUCO staff, Ohio Consumers’ Counsel (OCC) and others.

“Today’s order represents a well-balanced package that safeguards non-data center customers on an industrial and residential level while establishing a dependable and reasonable environment for data centers to continue to thrive within Ohio,” stated PUCO Chair Jenifer French.

As recent reports have indicated, agreements are being reached to help protect residential consumers in areas where data centers are located or being developed.

The land parcels making up the industrial mega-site in Mt. Orab were sold to DB STU LLC just over a year ago.

When reviewing the limited warranty deeds to these parcels of land that make up the mega-site in Mt. Orab, DB STU LLC (a Delaware limited liability company) has a tax-mailing address of c/o Vorys, Sater, Seymour and Pease LLP of Columbus, attn: Nicklaus J. Reis.

The News Democrat, Ripley Bee, and Brown County Press left a message for Reis on Feb. 5, but so far has received no response.

Assisting in data center development is one of the services Vorys provides.

“Vorys has positioned itself at the forefront of the modern data center development wave,” according to information found on the Vorys website (www.vorys.com).

According to a news release dated May 1, 2025 and titled, “Vorys Assists Vantage Data Centers in Hyperscale Data Center Development,” a cross-practice Vorys team recently assisted in the development of a hyperscale data center campus in New Albany, OH. According to information found in the news release, the “1.5 million-square foot project in New Albany will deliver 192 megawatts of IT capacity, and more than $2 billion will be invested into the development.”

The News Democrat, Ripley Bee, and Brown County Press reached out to Scott J. Ziance, partner with Vorys, with hopes of finding what economic impacts come with data centers. While Ziance would not comment on the New Albany data center project specifically, he did provide an analysis report authored by Vista Site Selection, a study that compares the economic impacts of data centers and manufacturing centers in Ohio. The study was authored by Vista Site Selection, LLC to detail the economic impacts of two hypothetical cases: a 250K sq ft data center and a 250k sq ft manufacturing center.

The study, showing a side-by-side comparison of data centers and manufacturing centers, included tax summaries for a data center and a manufacturing center. The tax models examined the one-time construction impacts, ten years of machinery and equipment, and annual labor costs.

The data center tax model showed the generation of $154 million in Federal taxes and $43 million in State taxes with Local/County Taxing Districts estimated to generate $35 million.

The manufacturing center tax model showed the generation of $62 million in Federal taxes and $19 million in State taxes with Local/County Taxing Districts estimated to generate $15 million.

The analysis report also showed, using hypothetical 250,000 sq ft projects, 9.6K total project jobs with 30% ongoing post-construction in relation to a data center, while it showed 3.6K total project jobs with 56% ongoing post-construction in relation to a manufacturing facility.

The analysis report also showed $1.0B to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for a data center, compared to a $477M to Ohio GDP for a manufacturing facility.

“The enclosed summary provides a side by side look at the economic impacts of both manufacturing facilities and data centers. The data is clear – data centers provide positive benefits to the community,” Ziance stated in a cover letter that was provided with the analysis report authored by Vista Site Selection.

Economic impacts in the analysis report by Vista were calculated utilizing an input-output macroeconomic model, a method that has existed since 1949 pioneered by economist Wassily Leontif. Input-output economic analysis illustrates, through use of a grid-matrix, how different sectors and industries are interconnected.

The analysis was performed by James Maples, PhD. Maples serves as Lead Economist at Vista Site Selection. His credentials include a PhD from the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, IMPLAN Certified Economist, Google Data Analytics Certified, Kentucky Master Naturalist, and Vice President of Southern Sociological Society (2025-26).

Could it be a hyperscale data center planned for the mega-site in Mt. Orab, similar to what Vorys has assisted with the development of in New Albany? Due to the non-disclosure agreements signed by the parties involved in the real estate dealings relating to the Mt. Orab mega-site, Mt. Orab residents have yet to receive a concrete answer as to whether or not it is a data center being planned for the mega-site; and they continue to demand transparency from Mt. Orab Village Council, the Southwest Ohio Regional Development Authority, the current owner of the mega-site, and others who have signed non-disclosure agreements and are withholding information that many residents of Mt. Orab and beyond feel should be made public.