CINCINNATI — There is no massive new data center waiting for approval at Cincinnati City Hall. But city officials say that is exactly why they are working to write the rules now.
Cincinnati officials held an informational meeting Monday night to share what the city has learned during its ongoing data center zoning study and to hear from residents about what they want future regulations to look like.
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"This zoning study is not in response to any specific data center proposal," city planner Sophia Ferris Rowe said during the presentation. "We are just noticing the growth around us, and we want to be prepared as a city in case that interest arrives."
The city began its zoning study in February when it established an Interim Development Control Overlay District covering data centers.
Under the temporary rules, proposed construction or expansion of a data center must be reviewed by the Cincinnati Planning Commission before a building permit can be issued.
Cincinnati City Council extended those temporary restrictions in April to give the Department of City Planning and Engagement more time to study permanent regulations. Before the temporary controls were adopted, data center developments could move forward if they complied with the existing zoning for a property.
The city is now studying how to permanently define and regulate data centers in its zoning code.
Cincinnati already has data centers
Data centers are facilities that house computer systems used to remotely store, process and distribute data. They support services ranging from emails and financial transactions to streaming and artificial intelligence.
According to information presented by city planners Monday, there are eight data centers within Cincinnati city limits, primarily downtown and in Queensgate. Those facilities vary significantly from the hyperscale data centers driving debate in other parts of Ohio and the country.
WCPO previously reported that most Cincinnati facilities are smaller than the massive data centers being constructed in more rural areas.
Ferris Rowe said the city has received some inquiries involving expansions of existing, smaller data centers, but one did not move forward and another had not moved forward with building permits as of Monday's presentation.
The zoning study, she emphasized, is not tied to a specific new proposal. Instead, officials are trying to answer a question before a larger project arrives: Where should a data center be allowed to go, and what rules should come with it?
Cincinnati's zoning code currently does not have a specific definition for a data center. Officials are examining how other cities have handled the issue, including whether facilities should be allowed by right in certain zoning districts, treated as conditional uses requiring additional review or handled through site-specific planned developments.
The city is also studying potential development regulations, including buffers between data centers and homes, schools and day cares; restrictions on generator testing; noise studies; equipment screening; height limits; controls on off-site lighting; and decommissioning plans spelling out what happens to a facility and its equipment if it closes.
For Cincinnati resident Thayer Wilson, writing those rules before a proposal arrives makes sense.
"I think it's great," Wilson said. "I don't want for our city to be caught, you know, unaware. Now there's a huge request coming from somewhere, and we don't have an answer for it."
But Wilson said the ultimate test will be whether residents' concerns make their way into the final rules.
"My fear is that what the community is saying ahead of time still won't necessarily be what we see in those proposals or in that zoning code," Wilson said.
Power demands become part of the debate
One of the biggest differences between data centers is scale. City planners presented information classifying smaller data centers as facilities with less than 5 megawatts of power capacity, while large or hyperscale facilities can use 100 megawatts or more.
Rob McCracken, with Cincinnati's Office of Environment and Sustainability, told residents a 5-megawatt data center operating continuously would consume about 43.8 gigawatt-hours of electricity annually, which he compared with the energy demands of a small community.
As data centers grow, so does that demand. McCracken said increased electricity use can raise questions about generation and infrastructure costs.
"As we continue to use more electricity, you know, we don't add more generation that's cheaper, right?" McCracken said. "Then we are going to see some increases in our utility bills."
McCracken said the question is how regulators can shift costs associated with data center demand toward those large users rather than other customers.
Officials also outlined potential environmental concerns associated with large data centers, including noise from cooling equipment and generators, air pollution from backup diesel generators, localized heat and water consumption.
Those issues are part of the reason city planners are looking beyond simply defining a data center and examining where facilities should be located and what conditions could be attached to them.
What about Cincinnati's water supply?
Greater Cincinnati Water Works and the Metropolitan Sewer District of Greater Cincinnati also used Monday's meeting to explain how a large data center would be evaluated for water and wastewater needs.
Data centers can use water to cool equipment.
Greater Cincinnati Water Works principal engineer Ben Biemple said the utility treats about 120 million gallons of water per day and has capacity to treat up to 280 million gallons per day.
Officials said a proposed data center would go through the same general water review process as other major developments. A developer would provide information about a project's projected water needs, and Water Works would use hydraulic modeling to determine whether existing infrastructure could support that demand.
If additional infrastructure were necessary to serve the development, officials said the developer would be responsible for installing it at its expense.
MSD would conduct a similar evaluation of the capacity of the sewer system, including reviewing sewer records, mapping, and hydraulic modeling.
Scott Vesler, with MSD, said the agency is also studying how other communities experiencing significant data center growth are managing their water systems.
One possibility raised during the presentation is using recycled water for facilities that do not require drinking-quality water for cooling. Vesler said treated wastewater could potentially be redirected to high-volume users, reducing their demand for fresh drinking water.
The concept could also influence where large water users are located, with facilities placed closer to wastewater treatment plants to make reuse more practical.
Residents want to know what happens after the study
For some residents at the meeting, gathering information is only the first step.
OTR resident Kaylee Baker said she is concerned about the environmental and community consequences of large-scale data center development.
"I think it was a good first step, but I think time will tell if the city is going to hold the developers' feet to the fire," Baker said.
The city plans to use its research and community feedback to develop recommendations as elected officials consider permanent zoning legislation.
Meanwhile, the temporary controls remain the city's backstop. City planners said Cincinnati can pursue additional extensions if permanent regulations are not adopted before the current controls expire.
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