Viking Data Centers, Akron, Ohio

Viking Data Centers runs a crypto-mining and AI data center at 428 Seiberling St. in East Akron, in Summit County, Ohio, inside what was once Goodyear's largest tire factory. The 380,000-square-foot building also houses Viking's headquarters and uses 150 megawatts of power around the clock, according to the company's website.

Viking says it opened in 2021 and grew from 20 megawatts that year to 150 megawatts in 2024. The company says it is "actively mining the capacity available on the site" and is a top-three customer of the electric utility. In March 2026 Viking chose Atlantic Energy as its retail power supplier, in a deal Atlantic said would support up to 150 MW of computing capacity "with further expansion potential."

"We selected Atlantic Energy as our provider for a long-term agreement because of their ability to structure a comprehensive and forward-thinking energy solution aligned with Viking's strategic growth plans," said Kazim Tahir-Kheli of Viking Data Centers. The facility's 150 megawatts is enough to power about 63,000 homes, Signal Akron reported.

Akron has since tightened its rules. On July 27, 2026 the City Council passed a zoning change that makes data centers a defined land use needing conditional-use approval, with a Planning Commission review and public hearings before any new one is built. Applicants must now disclose expected electricity demand, water use and wastewater, backup power and projected noise; the new requirements do not apply to expansions of existing facilities, Signal Akron reported.

"Our zoning code was written before facilities like modern data centers became a significant planning consideration," Mayor Shammas Malik said in a city release.

Residents who spoke for the rules raised health, energy and noise concerns. "Overall, I'm concerned about hyper-scale data centers," said Abigail Drennen of Highland Square, who said a moratorium would be appropriate. Theresa Augustin of Summit Lake said she worried the historic Firestone Plant #1 could become a data center. Planning director Kyle Julien said he expects the city to go further and explicitly limit data centers near schools or parks.

Viking is one of four data centers operating in Akron. The company ark data centers, which has two locations in the city, received a $4.5 million tax break to expand its operations in Akron and Independence. Any new data center in Akron now goes to the Planning Commission and City Council for conditional-use approval; expansions of existing ones, like Viking's, are not covered by the new process.