Data center restrictions tracker · Ohio

Clay Township, Ohio: data center moratorium (2026)

Data snapshot 2026-08-15 · part of Pricing the Fear of Data Centers

Clay Township, in Highland County, Ohio, adopted a data-center moratorium on April 20, 2026. Its status in this snapshot is enacted.

The record reads: "Clay Township (Highland County, OH) trustees adopted a 12-month data center moratorium on April 20, 2026. Board Chair Angela Howell cited concerns that rural communities are becoming hot spots for data center development. The moratorium… (datacentertracker.org)."

Details

ActionClassStatusDateMW thresholdScopeSource
MoratoriumrestrictionenactedApril 20, 2026not county-widedatacentertracker.org

Jurisdiction type: municipality. County: Highland County. Dataset: datacentertracker. Snapshot August 15, 2026; documented actions, not a census.

Ohio context

Ohio has 89 documented local actions across 82 jurisdictions in this snapshot. At the state level, the state has an incentive rollback (in force, May 27, 2026) and AEP Ohio territory has a large-load tariff (in force, July 9, 2025).

A town that says no to a data center gives up local tax revenue, not jobs: one large campus pays $2M to $90M a year depending on the tax regime, against roughly 50 permanent jobs. The parent piece prices it and lists the conditions that beat a ban.

Sources

Back to Pricing the Fear of Data Centers