Data centers in Adams County, Ohio: 1 project mapped

Imagery: Esri, Maxar

Amazon Web Services is weighing a data center on about 1,000 acres in Sprigg Township, next to the closed Stuart power plant on the Ohio River and minutes from downtown Manchester, county officials say. Amazon estimates a $10 billion investment and 500 jobs. A filing by the utility AES Ohio says a data center near the Stuart substation could need 1,300 megawatts of power by 2032, about 31 times what all of Adams County uses in a year. County leaders say they have received no formal proposal, so no county vote is scheduled.

Early site work has already been cleared. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers issued a permit on February 18, 2026, for a project of 12 "light industrial buildings" on land owned by Buck Canyon Properties, and the developer, 68 Yards LLC, said it expected to clear about 320 acres of forest. "How is that possible when nobody got a question or an opportunity to say 'We don't want that near us?'" asked Manchester voter Amy Crumley. The county says Amazon would pay for its own power and build its own substation.

Residents answered with petitions and local pauses. Sprigg Township and Monroe Township, home of the former Killen plant, each adopted one-year pauses on data centers in early 2026, and voters are petitioning for county zoning in the rural areas. "A lot of people in this area have electric bills now that are rivaling, especially in the wintertime, their mortgages and their rent," said cattle farmer Helen Newman, who is running for county commissioner. Kayak outfitter Nikki Gerber helped found Conserve Ohio, which is gathering signatures for a statewide ban on large data centers on the November 2027 ballot.

Every project above is drawn from public records, filings and local reporting. Each row links to what it is based on. Statuses change, so check the source date before you rely on one. Found something wrong? Write to [email protected] and it gets fixed.