Annette lives in Hilliard, a suburb of Columbus, Ohio. When she heard from her neighbors that Amazon was building an AI data center next door to her kids’ school, she was concerned. When she heard that the facility was suddenly adding a gas power plant, she got involved.
She kept hearing about Cathy, a neighbor who had been working in environmental advocacy for years. Finally, the two women met at a community meeting and they’ve been unstoppable ever since.
Annette and Cathy told us how quickly these AI data centers can be built, often with no input (or even notification!) from people in the community. Ohio passed a law last year, for example, that reduces the permitting time from years to just 45 days.
The status of the data center in Hilliard is still up in the air (which, for now, remains unpolluted). The gas power systems are expected to come online in 2027, but there’s a pending case with the Ohio EPA, so nobody really knows what’s going to happen.
Annette and Cathy emphasized that getting involved locally is the best—and often, the only—way to make a difference. Once a data center is approved for a power plant, like in Hilliard, it changes from local to state and federal control. And that means it’s a lot harder to stop.
This is happening in communities across the country. The United States has around 4,000 data centers already and hundreds more are in the works, many of them fast-tracked by local leaders dazzled by the dubious promises of billionaires. But most of these centers only employ 10-20 people, while the pollution and water use can be huge. And in some places where data centers are already online, neighbors are seeing spikes in their utility bills.
For many communities, the downsides far outweigh any positives.
So we encourage you to read up about data centers and to stay in touch with your neighbors and city council to learn if any are planned in your area. The earlier and more locally you can tackle this problem, the more likely you are to triumph. You can find a community group near you through the Red Wine & Blue Network.
