Label
Plan Commission Study of Data Centers
Councilmmbers Martinez, Morris, Gadus, Jones, Kramer & McPherson
Title
Submitting to the Toledo City Plan Commission a request to conduct a study of Data Centers; their use of public resources and potential positive or negative effects on the City of Toledo; and declaring an emergency.
Summary
SUMMARY & BACKGROUND:
Toledo City Council is requesting a study by the Toledo City Plan Commission to research the potential effects from the development of data centers. City leaders and residents alike should know about pros and cons involved with this important trend which will likely bring more data centers to Toledo and Northwest Ohio.
Data centers are buildings that house the infrastructure needed to run computer networks, including servers and storage drives, and have been through a recent boom in development due to the rapid rise of artificial intelligence.
According to the International Energy Agency, a conventional or mid-size data center draws as much electricity as 10,000 to 25,000 households. The Lincoln Institute reported that in 2023, US data centers consumed nearly 176-terawatt hours of electricity, and this energy usage is rising every year.
Another important aspect is that water consumption is especially high at data centers, as they use it to provide constant cooling for the sensitive machinery and servers. The Environmental and Energy Study Institute estimates that 80% of water used by data centers evaporates, and for the 5,426 data centers nationwide, 449 million gallons of water are drawn daily.
The development of data centers in our region could affect our city’s explicit goals for reducing carbon emissions. In 2021, Toledo City Council passed a resolution to reduce greenhouse gases emissions by 30% by 2030, below 2010 levels. Increasing electric consumption produced by natural gas or oil power plants increases greenhouse gas emissions even if data centers do not emit large amounts of carbon from their own facilities.
Northern Virginia would make an interesting case study of the pros and cons of data centers as it is said to be the data center “hub” of the United States. The Environmental and Energy Study Institute reported that Northern Virginia and its approximate 300 data centers consumed close to 2 billion gallons of water in 2023, a 63% increase from 2019.
Ohio is considered a great location for development, because of factors like the data center sales tax exemption, a robust electric grid with cooperative utilities, and communities eager to diversify their economies. Ohio currently has about 200 data centers with three in Northwest Ohio and two in Toledo.
Data centers may pose several concerns for municipalities and their residents based on their use of public resources, but they also come with clear benefits that should be studied and understood.
As with other new developments, data centers would bring construction jobs in the short term and many other types of trades and technical jobs in the longer term, including IT, maintenance, security, etc. Data centers also generate high revenue that is associated with increased tax revenue for the City and State. They may be an economic magnet for related technology companies and therefore improve outcomes for the city and region in terms of workforce development. Data centers may also develop in accordance with Community Benefit Agreements that go beyond the typical scope of jobs creation and tax revenue, towards improving our community’s health and livelihood.
Data centers should be studied in-depth to see the multitude of impacts that their development could bring to our city and region.
NOW THEREFORE, Be it resolved by the Council of the City of Toledo:
SECTION 1. The Plan Commission is hereby directed to conduct the requested study of the effects of data centers and provide its findings and recommendations to Council in a timely manner.
SECTION 2. The Plan Commission is directed to consider factors such as water consumption, electricity consumption, increased greenhouse gas emissions, effect on residential water, electric, and gas rates, market volatility, as well as job creation, tax revenue, and catalyzing effects on the development of related industries.
SECTION 3. That this Resolution hereby is declared to be an emergency measure and shall take effect and be in force immediately from and after its adoption. The reason for the emergency lies in the fact that same is necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, safety and prosperity.
Vote on emergency clause: yeas _____, nays _____.
Adopted _________________, as an emergency measure: yeas _____, nays _____.
Attest: ________________________ __________________________________
Clerk of Council President of Council
Approved: _____________________ __________________________________
Mayor
I hereby certify that the above is a true and correct copy of an Ordinance passed by Council ________________________.
Attest: ________________________
Clerk of Council