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A company’s plan for a massive data center complex in Pike County includes private land as well
By: David Forster
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ATHENS, Ohio (WOUB) — Three weeks ago, a company filed a permit application with the state to build on private land in Pike County what would be one of the largest data center complexes in the United States.
This came two months after the same company announced with great fanfare — at an event featuring top officials from the Trump administration — plans to build a data center complex of the same size on the site of a former uranium enrichment plant in Pike County, which is owned by the federal government.
WOUB reached out to SB Energy, the company behind the proposals, to find out whether its plans are to build two 10-gigawatt data center complexes: one on the site of the former Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant, known locally as the A-plant, and one on private land.
A spokesperson said the company plans to build data centers on both for a combined total of 10 gigawatts. SB Energy has not yet settled on a final layout, which would determine how much of that 10 gigawatts would go on the A-plant site and how much would go on private land.
“The 10 GW data center complex will be located on approximately 1,016 acres private land in Pike County, Ohio. The project consists of several data center buildings and gas generation power plants, and their associated infrastructure, including access roads, administrative buildings, substations, overhead/underground power lines, laydown yards, parking infrastructure, etc.”
The application included maps outlining the parcels where the individual data centers would be built. The parcels are mostly farmland located to the north and east of the A-plant site. Most of the land is owned by Woodburn Heights LLC, Green Eyes LLC and Roe Farms LLC.
SB Energy says in the application it has options to purchase the identified property.
The company needs a permit from Ohio EPA because the project would impact wetlands, streams and wildlife. Documents submitted with the application note that SB Energy began surveying some of the parcels late last year to identify potential impacts.
The application includes maps showing two possible configurations for the data centers. One features clusters of smaller buildings and is labeled as the no degradation option, meaning it would have no impact on streams and wetlands. The other map features fewer clusters of much larger buildings and is labeled the maximum degradation option.
Neither of these are SB Energy’s preferred option, according to application documents. Instead, the company plans to develop a final layout as it works through the permitting process, according to a spokesperson.
The project is one of many proposed for southeast Ohio
SB Energy’s project is among at least nine data centers proposed for counties in southeast Ohio over the past year and reflects a growing push for more and bigger data centers in the United States. This push is driven in large part by the demand for more computing power to fuel the growth of artificial intelligence. Reuters reported last week that OpenAI is in talks to lease the data center complex SB Energy plans to build.
The rapid development of data centers across the country has brought with it growing community opposition. Residents in southeast Ohio and elsewhere cite concerns about the energy and water demands of these centers, potential air pollution from backup generators and how the massive buildings will alter the visual landscape and the character of rural communities in particular.
The A-plant site appears to offer some advantages in this regard. It was for decades occupied by a massive industrial facility that had high energy and water demands, so a large data center complex would not be something entirely new.
Another plus, at least for SB Energy, is it would be exempt from paying property taxes on the A-plant site because the land is owned by the U.S. Department of Energy.
The A-plant site also has strong support from the Trump administration, which first announced the data center project in mid-February as part of a trade deal with Japan. SB Energy is a subsidiary of SoftBank, a Japanese company that is a major global investor in the tech sector. The Trump administration is looking to redevelop underutilized Department of Energy sites and is promoting American leadership in AI development as a national security interest.
The A-plant site is undergoing a multibillion operation to clean up the radioactive and other contamination left behind from decades of uranium enrichment. This cleanup is expected to continue into the next decade. WOUB has not been able to determine how much land on the site is ready for data center development.
Companies building data centers on private land often seek exemptions from paying property taxes or at least a reduction. These are known as tax abatements, which can last for years and are often granted by local governments as an incentive to bring new business development into their communities.
These abatements are also facing growing criticism, with some arguing that the job growth data centers bring, after the initial surge in construction employment, is not enough to justify the loss in tax revenue.
WOUB asked SB Energy if it plans to seek a tax abatement in Pike County but did not receive a response by the time this story was published.