CLEVELAND — Data centers remain a top concern for Ohio voters even as rising fuel prices tied to the ongoing war in Iran have climbed to the forefront of the political conversation in recent weeks.
In the race for U.S. Senate, Democratic challenger Sherrod Brown has labeled Republican incumbent Jon Husted "the face of data centers" in a series of ads aimed at capitalizing on voter frustration over rising utility rates.
"We know that our electric rates in this [state] are some of the highest in the country, and Jon Husted's been the front guy on all of these data centers. Two hundred in Ohio getting huge over-the-top tax breaks and raising utility rates," Brown said.
Husted pushed back, calling Brown a hypocrite.
"Sherrod Brown is such a hypocrite," Husted said. "He used to want to take credit for data centers coming to Ohio. He used to send out news releases when he was a senator talking about all he'd done to help bring data centers to Ohio."
Brown pointed to state tax incentives as a key driver behind the influx of data centers.
"They shouldn't have these over-the-top tax breaks; none of us should be paying higher electric rates because these out-of-state corporations came in, put the data centers here and think they should get help from Ohio electricity users to pay for it," Brown said.
Husted's Ratepayer Protection Act passed the House last week and is expected to get a Senate vote before lawmakers break for the election next week. The act would ensure American families and small businesses are not left paying for the energy infrastructure needed to support new data centers.
"When a very large electricity customer, such as the data center, connects to the grid, it can require investments in new generation, transmission lines, substations and local distribution systems," Husted said from the Senate floor. "In plain language, if you create the cost, you should pay the cost."
Despite their sharp disagreements, both candidates agree that data center placement should ultimately be a local decision.
"Communities where these data centers are had no input in their coming to their communities, so we need to fix all of that," Brown said.
Husted echoed that position.
"This should be a local decision. Local communities should decide whether they want a data center or not. The federal government shouldn't have anything to say about it," Husted said.
Both candidates have also heard from those who support data centers, including union workers involved in construction and communities that welcome the added tax revenue — voices both say should factor into what remains a local call.
"And so for the communities that want that, great, and if you don't want it, tell them to go somewhere else," Husted said.
