Ohio Data Center Intel

Recent Ohio data center news

• Nov 4, 2025

  Power, Proximity, Policy: The Legal Landscape of Siting Data Centers Near Natural Gas Resources

  Michelman Robinson partners Warren Koshofer and Seth Leibenstein analyze the legal and regulatory considerations for siting data centers near U.S. natural gas resources.

  • Main announcement/action: The article provides a legal and practical guide on siting data centers adjacent to natural gas infrastructure, noting concrete facts such as data center loads often exceeding 100 megawatts per site and that natural gas supplies more than 40% of U.S. electricity. It identifies regional hubs (Texas/Permian Basin; Appalachian Basin — Marcellus & Utica; Midcontinent/Great Plains; Rockies — DJ and Powder River basins; Gulf South — Louisiana & Mississippi) and highlights relevant regulators like ERCOT and FERC, plus contractual vehicles such as PPAs and gas tolling arrangements.
  • Background and details: The piece outlines regulatory and compliance requirements (Clean Air Act permitting, Section 401 water quality certifications, state environmental reviews), flags evolving ESG and carbon disclosure pressures (SEC proposals, IRA incentives), and lists states considering restrictions on fossil-fueled generation for new data centers (Oregon, Virginia, Illinois). Contact details for the authors are provided: Warren Koshofer (212-730-7700; wkoshofer@mrllp.com) and Seth Leibenstein (212-730-7700; sliebenstein@mrllp.com).
• Nov 4, 2025

  Essential Utilities Reports Third Quarter 2025 Results

  Essential Utilities announced Q3 2025 financial results and multi-year infrastructure and strategic actions.

  • Main announcement: Essential reported Q3 2025 net income of $92.1 million ($0.33 per share) and quarter revenues of $477.0 million, while reaffirming a capital investment plan of approximately $7.8 billion from 2025–2029 (including $1.4–$1.5 billion expected in 2025). The company also announced an all-stock merger agreement with American Water Works Company, Inc. (announced Oct 27, 2025) to create a combined public utility with an approximate pro forma market capitalization of $40 billion and combined enterprise value of $63 billion, with the transaction expected to close by the end of Q1 2027 subject to shareholder and regulatory approvals.

  • Other key details and partnerships: Essential signed an agreement with International Electric Power III, LLC (IEP) to invest in a 1,400-acre data center project in Greene County, Pennsylvania, where Aqua will design, build, and operate an 18 million gallons per day (MGD) water treatment plant (expected operational mid-2029); the company expects to finance approximately $25 million of the data center investment via its ATM program in 2025. Rate awards/surcharges totaling $101.5 million were received across water and gas segments (water: $92.6 million; gas: $8.9 million). Webcast remarks: Date: November 5, 2025; Time: 9 a.m. ET; Access: Essential.co Investors page; archived for one year.

• Nov 4, 2025

  Essential Utilities Reports Third Quarter 2025 Results

  Essential Utilities announced its third-quarter 2025 financial results and significant strategic actions, including an agreement to invest in a Greene County, Pennsylvania data center project and a definitive all‑stock merger agreement with American Water Works Company, Inc.

  • Quarter results & merger: Reported Q3 2025 net income of $92.1 million and revenues of $477.0 million; board declared a $0.3426 per share quarterly dividend payable Dec 1, 2025; announced a definitive all‑stock, tax‑free merger with American Water Works Company, Inc. creating a pro forma market capitalization of approximately $40 billion and combined enterprise value of approximately $63 billion, with the transaction expected to close by end of Q1 2027, subject to shareholder and regulatory approvals (including Hart‑Scott‑Rodino clearance).
  • Capital programs & project details: Plans ~$7.8 billion of regulated infrastructure investment from 2025–2029 (including >300 PFAS projects); expects 2025 regulated infrastructure investments of $1.4–$1.5 billion; Aqua will design, build, and operate an 18 MGD water treatment plant for a 1,400‑acre Greene County data center/power project (operational target mid‑2029); company reaffirmed a 60% reduction in Scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions by 2035 (2019 baseline) and expects to raise ~$350 million equity in 2025 (including $25 million to finance the data center investment).
• Oct 1, 2025

  Amazon Signs Deal for Solar Energy to Power Data Centers in U.S.

  Amazon announced it has signed a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with Avangrid to purchase electricity from the Oregon Trail Solar project in Oregon.

  • Project details: Oregon Trail Solar — 57 MWdc (41 MWac) capacity, expected operations in 2027, will supply Amazon’s data centers in the Pacific Northwest; construction is projected to create ~200 construction jobs (mostly local union workers), will install >100,000 solar panels, and is expected to generate roughly the annual electricity consumption of ~10,000 U.S. households.
  • Background and other details:Avangrid has operated in Oregon since 2001 and runs 2.5 GW of capacity in-state, including a National Training Center in Sherman County and a corporate office in Portland; the project will contribute approximately US$6 million in combined payments in lieu of taxes and property taxes over its lifetime to benefit schools and infrastructure; this is a follow-up collaboration after Avangrid and Amazon’s agreement for the Leaning Juniper IIA repower and follows similar partnerships in Illinois, Ohio, and North Carolina.
• Sep 24, 2025

  OpenAI Expands Stargate With Five New Data Center Sites Across US

  OpenAI announced it plans to invest roughly $400 billion to develop five new US data center sites in partnership with Oracle and SoftBank Group, part of a broader pledge to spend $500 billion on domestic AI infrastructure over the next four years.

  • Main action: OpenAI, Oracle and SoftBank will develop five new Stargate-branded data center sites across Texas, New Mexico and Ohio, totaling 7 GW of capacity (comparable to some cities). The three Oracle-partnered sites account for >5.5 GW (including a 600 MW expansion near Abilene); the two SoftBank-partnered sites (Lordstown, Ohio and Milam County, Texas) total 1.5 GW with the Ohio site expected to be operational by next year and the Milam site now breaking ground. Financing will be via a mix of cash and debt; OpenAI cited a related $100 billion investment deal with Nvidia that should ease debt financing.
  • Background and details: The commitment advances an earlier $500 billion domestic infrastructure pledge and builds on a July agreement with Oracle to develop up to 4.5 GW of additional Stargate capacity (about $300 billion of the newly announced $400B). OpenAI said the expansion will support services such as ChatGPT (used by ~700 million weekly users) and noted broader industry spending (Meta, Alphabet, Amazon, Microsoft) of roughly $344 billion for the year toward AI/data centers.
• Sep 24, 2025

  Avangrid to supply power from Oregon Trail Solar Project to Amazon  

  Avangrid has announced a power purchase agreement (PPA) with Amazon for the Oregon Trail Solar Project.

  • Project and deal details: 57MW DC Oregon Trail Solar in Gilliam County, Oregon will supply renewable energy to Amazon’s data centres in the region; the facility is scheduled to start operations in 2027 and the PPA is the agreed mechanism for energy supply for those data centres.
  • Background and additional facts: The project features >100,000 solar panels, will generate electricity equivalent to ~10,000 US homes, is expected to create around 200 construction jobs (largely local union labour), and Avangrid anticipates approximately $6m in payments in lieu of taxes and property taxes over its lifetime; this builds on a prior PPA tied to the Leaning Juniper IIA repower project in Gilliam County and other agreements across Illinois, Ohio, and North Carolina. Avangrid has operated in Oregon since 2001 and currently manages 2.5GW of capacity and facilities including the National Training Center in Sherman County and a corporate office in Portland. Last month Avangrid signed a contract with SmartestEnergy for power from two projects in New Hampshire.
• Sep 13, 2025

  Big Tech's energy-hungry data centers could be bumped off grids during power emergencies

  Policymakers and grid operators are proposing rules to allow utilities or grid operators to disconnect large data centers during power emergencies.

  • Main action: Several U.S. regions are considering or implementing rules that would let utilities or grid operators disconnect large data centers during power emergencies to avoid widespread blackouts; Texas passed a bill in June ordering standards for power emergencies, PJM (which serves 65 million people) has proposed that proposed data centers may not be guaranteed electricity during a power emergency, and the Indiana & Michigan Power and Google filed a power-supply contract for a proposed $2 billion Fort Wayne data center in which Google agreed to reduce electricity use when the grid is stressed (key contract details remain confidential).
  • Background and details: Grid operators such as Southwest Power Pool (serving 18 million people) and Monitoring Analytics warn data center load could overwhelm grids; data centers use backup diesel generators, the Data Center Coalition seeks flexible standards, and advocates like Dan Diorio recommend pairing mandatory actions with financial rewards for voluntary reductions. The surge in demand is linked to AI growth since late 2022 (ChatGPT), and regulators and governors have raised legal and investment concerns about the proposals.
• Sep 10, 2025

  Climate Change Solutions - September 9, 2025

  The Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI) published a newsletter highlighting recent climate solutions, Congressional activity, briefings, and an upcoming AI-and-energy event.

  • Main announcement: EESI summarizes new content and events including articles on passive and sustainable cooling, grid resilience to heat waves, and a new Nature4Communities tool from U.S. Nature4Climate; it also hosted a briefing with the Ohio River Basin Alliance as part of its Resilient and Healthy Rivers series. Key figures and policy items cited include $57.3 billion in FY2026 discretionary funding in H.R.4553 (Energy and Water appropriations), a noted reduction of $766.4 million from 2025 levels, an authorizing proposal of $10 million to DOE under H.R.4490 (Wildfire Grid Resiliency Act), and $30 million annually directed to local officials under H.R.5154 (REACT Act).
  • Background and upcoming actions: The newsletter catalogs Congressional bills and hearings, media coverage, and events; it also announces an EESI briefing on AI and energy.
    • Event: “Artificial Intelligence: Implications for Energy and the Environment”
      • Date: Thursday, September 25
      • Time: 3:30 p.m. - 4:30 p.m.
      • Location: Rayburn House Office Building, Gold Room (Room 2168) and online (livecast/RSVP link provided)
    • Other details: Highlight notes available for the 28th Annual Congressional Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Policy Forum and EXPO; a cited statistic: every $1 invested in transit generates $5 in economic returns.
• Sep 10, 2025

  ORNL wins 20 R&D 100 Awards

  Oak Ridge National Laboratory announced it set a new lab record by winning 20 R&D 100 Awards in the current global competition (ORNL led 17 winners and co-developed three more, with 29 ORNL finalist technologies).

  • Main announcement & highlights: ORNL reports 20 R&D 100 Awards (17 led, 3 co-developed) across energy, materials, manufacturing, computing and emerging technologies; notable technology metrics include rotary transformer motor tested on a 200-kW BorgWarner motor (92–95% efficiency, up to 15% efficiency improvement, up to 25% higher power density, validated over 53,000 cycles ≈ 10 years), LMHE engine with 15% weight reduction and >10% fuel-efficiency improvement, heat pump water heater with 30% improvement in first-hour hot water delivery, and BIPHASICS CO2 capture claiming up to 46% less solvent regeneration energy and 30% lower CO2 capture cost vs MEA.
  • Background, partners and technical details: The announcement lists commercial and research partners and commercialization steps (e.g., The Sexton Corporation commercializing the underwater X-ray system; collaboration with BorgWarner, GM, Cummins, Soteria Battery Innovation Group, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, and academic partners). It documents technology specifics such as HyPoCap (surface area >4,000 m2/g; 610 F/g capacitance), E-GRIMS operating at ~800°C with >90% energy savings and completing graphitization in ~2 hours, Next-Gen Polyiso R-value 8.3 per inch (30% better), Future Foundries reducing production cycles by up to 68%, and simulation tools (DR-Weld, ExaDigiT, PRESTO, Simurgh) with stated performance claims and deployment partners. Funding sources and managing organization (UT-Battelle for DOE Office of Science) are also listed.
• Aug 22, 2025

  Net zero needs AI — five actions to realize its promise

  Nature (author Amy Luers) argues that widespread AI deployment is needed to realise net zero by 2050 and outlines five actions to capture AI’s mitigation potential.

  • Main announcement/action: The article calls for targeted investment and deployment of AI for climate to accelerate decarbonization, citing that AI climate-technology raised US$6 billion in 2024, and urging focus on underfunded areas such as grid integration, materials discovery and carbon removal; it lists five priority actions to realise this potential.
  • Background and details: Key factual points include global temperature in 2024 exceeded 1.5 °C above pre-industrial levels, data centres ≈1.5% of global electricity (IEA), US data centres currently ~4.4% of US electricity and could reach 6.7–12% by 2028, and estimated mitigation potential of 1.4 GtCO2/yr by 2035 (IEA) or 3.2–5.4 GtCO2/yr by 2035 (Stern et al.); the article also documents local resource stresses (water, grid capacity) and technology examples (dynamic line ratings, AI-led materials discovery at MIT).