WEST UNION, OHIO — Adams County leaders may have the ideal location for those controversial data center projects that sparked community backlash in several local counties since December.
They’re inviting developers to consider two former power plant sites on the Ohio River.
“The first thing (data centers) need is a lot of power and the second thing they may need is a lot of water. These sites do check those boxes,” said Paul Worley, economic development director for Adams County. "In addition, they’re isolated. You know, the nearest house is probably a half mile away from the project. I know a lot of these other communities are worried about it being right next to their half-million-dollar house.”
Worley has signed two nondisclosure agreements with companies exploring potential data center sites in Adams County. So, he declined to reveal the name of those companies or details on the size, scope and exact locations of the projects they’re exploring.
But he’s determined to avoid problems that other communities have faced when courting data center projects. Residents of Hamilton, Trenton, Wilmington, Mt. Orab and Maysville, Ky., have all criticized public officials for a lack of transparency. And they’ve questioned the wisdom of placing data centers on farmland or near subdivisions.
“We’ve had lots of different entities looking at these sites,” Worley said. “But so far, no project has come to a point where they say, ‘Here it is. We want to build this. What’s the community going to do for us?’ I can assure our residents of Adams County that, if a project gets to that point, we will be transparent. There will be a process for public input and people will have their voices heard.”
Ownership changes at Killen, Stuart
The WCPO 9 I-Team has been looking into the development potential of the Killen and J.M. Stuart power plants, which closed in 2018 but still contain more than 1,400 acres of coal ash ponds that have yet to be fully remediated.
Both properties have been attracting real estate investors since December 2019, when Missouri-based Commercial Liability Partners bought the Killen plant, followed by Stuart a month later.
As the I-Team reported in 2021, CLP bought the assets and liabilities of the two plants, with the goal of cleaning up the sites and attracting investors willing to bring new industry and jobs to them. Four years later, only one new business has emerged. Ohio River Transit Access LLC is a cargo hub that transfers loads between barges, trucks and rail.
WATCH: WCPO's I-Team sat down with Adams County leaders to discuss their ideas
But Adams County records show more than two dozen parcels have changed hands since 2021. Two companies, controlled by the same three owners, have purchased 790 acres at the Killen and Stuart plants since 2023.
Those companies, High Table LLC at Killen and Energy Strike LLC at Stuart, also signed option agreements to sell a combined 97 acres to Hecate Energy, a Chicago-based company that supplies solar panels, battery storage and gas-fired power plants to data centers.
High Table and Energy Strike are owned by Brett Cooper, a Russellville resident whose friends and family worked at the former power plants, and two Nashville-based investors, Daniel Moore and Paul Ziady. Cooper declined to comment. Ziady and Moore did not return I-Team messages.
Both sites are being marketed as potential data center and power-generation locations by Jim Evans, a Nashville-based commercial broker for Core Real Estate.
“The site could offer up to 650 MW of power generation within 24 months per a plan in place by the sellers,” said the Killen listing. “Massive amount of water resources from private aquifers and the Ohio River (with permits to be obtained) to draw water for cooling or other industrial uses.”
In an interview, Evans said Stuart is “a premier site” because it has a functional substation that provides better access to the grid.
“We’re just trying to vet everyone that comes in because some people just want to tie up the property and take it off the market,” Evans said. “We want to make sure we have the best user of the property that benefits the community. That’s the big thing for this group. They’re community-minded.”
'This area could boom'
Worley said it’s crucial for Adams County to replace the 700 jobs lost when the Killen and Stuart plant shut down.
“We have 10% of our workforce, over a thousand people every day, drive more than 90 minutes one way to work,” Worley said. “And so, it’s incumbent on us to find every opportunity we can to create good-paying jobs close to home so we can keep these people local and improve their quality of life.”
Property taxes could also improve with data center investments, depending on how big a tax break is needed to finalize a deal.
“Manchester schools lost $5.5 million when the power plants closed,” Worley said. “They went from being one of the most well-funded school districts to one of the worst-funded school districts in the state of Ohio.”
That’s why Peebles resident Steven Partin thinks Adams County residents would support a data center project on the former power plant sites.
Partin owns a construction company that installed substation piers at an Amazon data center in Jeffersonville, Ohio. He said he'd love a chance to bid on projects close to home.
“It’s prime real estate right here on the river that’s being unused right now,” Partin said. “Soon as you get the first project rolling, you’ll see businesses and different opportunities crop up that may not even necessarily be related. I think this area could boom after it gets put in.”
'Adams County is open to business'
In the meantime, another company may be chasing a different data center project for a 1,016-acre site north of the Stuart plant on U.S. Route 52.
Adams County records show Buck Canyon Properties LLC paid $2.65 million in 2024 for the 1,016-acre site on the Stuart plant’s northern border.
Dayton Power & Light previously acquired the land as part of a landfill development in 2012. It ultimately closed the landfill in 2018 without dumping coal ash there, as originally planned.
In December, Buck Canyon Properties requested Ohio EPA approval of a wetland mitigation plan to support a “light industrial use” of the land.
“The development will consist of twelve buildings, internal access drives, five stormwater management basins and utility infrastructure,” said a 10-page memo in support of the application, which listed a construction start date of Feb. 1, 2026.
The application was submitted by Ramboll, a Virginia-based engineering firm that includes data center site selection among its specialties.
Buck Canyon's owners, Fleminsgburg, Ky. -based power sports enthusiasts Derek Harmon and Darren Royse, declined to comment, citing a nondisclosure agreement.
The I-Team asked Ohio EPA if the project provided any other details about the project, including whether it’s a data center and if additional permits are required.
“The wetland permit application under review does not require details about what is being built, so we do not know the specific type of development proposed,” said Ohio EPA spokeswoman Dina Pierce. “To date, we do not have applications for a wastewater discharge permit or a stormwater plan.”
Worley said the county lacks zoning to prevent data centers from pursuing parcels away from the Killen and Stuart sites. But it’s willing to use tax incentives to reach a deal that delivers job creation without causing new environmental problems.
“Adams County is open to business, but it has to be the right fit for us,” Worley said. “My job is to bring projects to the table. And I think what we’re going to find out over the next six months or more is whether the residents of Adams County want a project like this.”
