Data centers have now been banned in Lordstown, Ohio.

On November 3, the Lordstown Village Council voted to approve an ordinance banning all proposals for data centers in the village.

The ordinance was drafted in response to a proposal submitted by developer Bristolville 25 Developer LLC detailing a potential data center development to be located on a 133-acre land parcel near Tod Avenue.

WKBN First News reported that the developer had estimated the 1,650,000 sq ft (150,000 sqm) facility would require an investment of $3.6 billion.

An attorney representing the developer protested the Village Council's decision, accusing it of acting unlawfully by contravening a requirement to provide 30 days' notice ahead of a public hearing necessary for the ordinance to pass.

Whilst Lordstown is not a data center hotspot, Ohio has seen a great deal of interest from operators in recent years. The state’s largest utility company, American Electric Power Ohio, forecasts that demand from the sector could grow from 600MW in 2024 to 5GW in 2030. This is despite the fact that the utility announced last month that its policies to reduce data center demand had already halved the state's pipeline from 30GW to 13GW.

The village will soon see one of its former General Motors factories turned into a Foxconn manufacturing facility set to produce data center-related equipment for OpenAI's Stargate project. One of Stargate's data centers will also be located in the village.