Ohio lawmakers grilled lobbyists with Amazon, Google, Meta and Microsoft for hours Thursday, and while the Joint Data Center Committee hearing stretched into the afternoon, its members said they adjourned with some questions unanswered.
The four lobbyists each defended the longterm investments made by their companies in Ohio. In some cases, they said industry issues are better addressed by utilities, the regulators of those utilities or local governments.
鈥淭he locals have a lot of power, right?鈥� Google Data Center Market and Policy Manager Liz Schwab testified. 鈥淭hey have all the local control and authority to determine how these projects or if these projects move forward, and if we go against any of our local agreements, they can shut us down.鈥�
Microsoft has committed to end its use of with locals, but Amazon Web Services Head of Energy and Sustainability Public Policy Craig Sundstrom said Thursday that AWS sees them as another 鈥渢ool.鈥�
Residents have criticized the NDAs for shrouding data center decisions in secrecy. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 causing a lot of the distrust and anxiety,鈥� Rep. Adam Holmes (R-Nashport) told reporters.
Rep. Heidi Workman (R-Rootstown) asked why companies building data centers had fallen behind on messaging. 鈥淵ou鈥檙e doing a terrible job actually selling your product on the public scale,鈥� Workman said.
Some concerns from citizens, Schwab said, boiled down to misinformation or false narratives.
鈥淚 agree with you,鈥� she testified. 鈥淲e鈥檙e behind, and we鈥檙e dedicated to doing more and doing better.鈥�
Legislators asked questions about state and local tax incentives, and electric and water usage, too. The committee is scheduled to meet at least two more times next week.
Meanwhile, House Speaker Matt Huffman (R-Lima) told reporters Wednesday he鈥檇 like to see action on 鈥渟ome sort of data center legislation, and that鈥檚 why we formed this joint committee.鈥� But the committee chairs have said they see the committee itself doing more fact-finding rather than legislating.
The legislature is looking to leave for its summer recess late next week, lasting until after the November election. But two sessions in the House and one in the Senate are scheduled, as needed, for later in June.