The Daily Dig
A data center is being planned for Adams County, Ohio, near the former Stuart power plant on a site widely reported to be a former Dayton Power & Light landfill. An AES Ohio regulatory filing dated February 3 requests a starting power load of 100MW in 2028, ramping to 1.3GW by March 2032. The load steps up through 400MW in 2029, 700MW in 2030, and 1.1GW in 2031.
The February 3 filing confirmed what locals had suspected, arriving the same week Ohio EPA records surfaced showing plans for 12 light industrial buildings at the Buck Canyon site. The Army Corps of Engineers followed on February 18 with Nationwide Permit No. 39, protecting endangered bats, mussels, and butterflies and establishing a 100-foot buffer around three nearby cemeteries.
Opposition is organized and growing, with petitions calling for a statewide constitutional amendment to ban data centers and rural zoning rules to restrict future development in Adams County.
Energy consumption is a central issue. WCPO-TV reported the project could draw roughly 11.4 million megawatt hours annually by 2032, about 31 times Adams County's 2025 usage of 366,401 megawatt hours, per research firm FindEnergy. Applying the MOST Policy Initiative's figure of 8,760 megawatt hours per megawatt of capacity annually, the initial 100MW phase in 2028 would already exceed the county's entire current consumption at roughly 876,000 megawatt hours.
Project Snapshot:
Project / Platform: Not disclosed
Location / Region: Adams County, Ohio (Buck Canyon site, near former Stuart power plant; widely reported as former Dayton Power & Light landfill)
Capacity (MW): 100MW (2028), 400MW (2029), 700MW (2030), 1.1GW (2031), 1.3GW (by March 2032)
Utility / ISO: AES Ohio / PJM
Interconnect / Substation Scope: Incremental load increases filed through AES Ohio's Stuart Substation service area
Status / Milestones: AES Ohio regulatory filing submitted Feb. 3, 2026; U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Nationwide Permit No. 39 issued Feb. 18, 2026
Environmental Conditions: Endangered species protections (bats, mussels, butterflies); 100-foot construction buffer around three cemeteries (Boone, Davidson, Rogers Parr)
Energy Demand Comparison: 11.4M MWh annually by 2032 vs. 366,401 MWh county usage (2025) (per WCPO-TV / FindEnergy)
Initial Load Comparison: 876,000 MWh annually at 100MW (2028), exceeding current county demand (per MOST Policy Initiative methodology)
Community Response: Organized local opposition citing transparency, pollution, and rising energy costs
Policy Actions Proposed: Statewide constitutional amendment to ban data centers; rural zoning changes in Adams County; petition to rescind Sprigg Township's January resolution signaling no intent to rezone
TheJobWalk Thoughts
A 100MW commitment by 2028 means civil grading, switchgear procurement, substation enabling, and utility infrastructure all have to move well before a building permit gets pulled, and the permit conditions add real constraints that shape sequencing from day one. A 100-foot buffer around three cemeteries and active endangered species protections define where equipment stages, where clearing starts, and which scopes move first. Civil and utility contractors who wait on a GC announcement are already late.
The community opposition is worth watching too, not because it will kill the project, but because organized resistance at this scale can fracture approval timelines and force sequencing changes that shift contract timing in ways most teams are not planning for.
