Sunbury Amendment Bans Data Centers Exceeding 25 Megawatts, Backed by 78.64%
Key Facts
Voters in Sunbury, Ohio, approved an amendment banning data centers with an electric load exceeding 25 megawatts, with 78.64% of voters supporting it in the Nov. 3, 2026, election. A total of 2,809 voters backed the amendment and 763 opposed it, out of 3,572 votes, according to results reported by Ballotpedia and attributed to the Delaware County Board of Elections. The vote sets a specific electricity-load limit for covered centers, with the amendment applying when total monthly electricity demand or peak load exceeds 25 megawatts. The result came as Amazon plans a data center complex in Sunbury with announced capital investment of $2 billion. The vote result alone, however, does not establish the project's legal status or the amendment's effect on it.
The city announced the Amazon project on Nov. 21, 2024, saying the company planned to invest $2 billion in new capital assets to build a data center complex in Sunbury. The statement added that the company had committed to creating 50 high-paying direct jobs in the city. The City Council approved a Community Reinvestment Area incentive for the project at its Nov. 20, 2024, meeting. The city described the project at the time as the first to receive an economic development incentive in the Sunbury Business and Technology Park. The park is in a recently annexed area designated for limited industrial use and covers about 1,300 acres, according to the statement.
The city said the Sunbury investment was part of a planned $7.8 billion regional expansion of Amazon's data center operations, announced in 2023. It also said the company's investments and operations in Ohio had generated more than $3.8 billion in economic benefits through Nov. 21, 2024, and helped support an average of more than 4,700 jobs annually at local companies. The city statement presents those figures in the context of the company's expansion in the state, alongside the direct jobs announced for the Sunbury project. Meanwhile, Cleveland.com’s report on the vote cited local concerns about electricity costs, water use, noise and the loss of farmland. The coverage describes these concerns among residents without attributing a single motive to everyone who voted for the amendment.
The voting wave extended to other Ohio cities; Cleveland.com reported that all 11 proposed amendments to restrict large data centers were headed for approval, and estimated support for the Sunbury measure at about 78%. The rounded figure in the coverage was exceeded by the detailed published result, which was 78.64%. The votes came amid a statewide debate over tax incentives for data centers. The Associated Press said Ohio's governor had suspended new offers of the data center tax incentive while the state reviewed the issue. The agency quoted him as saying, "We will pause making new offers for this tax incentive until that process is complete."
The AP reported that the value of Ohio's tax exemption reached $554 million in 2024, then approached $1.6 billion in 2025, exceeding previous estimates. At the same time, the governor said data centers are an important component of today's economy and that related investments in the state totaled about $37 billion in 2024 and 2025. The agency quoted him describing the investments as worthwhile, reflecting the continuing debate between attracting investment and the costs of incentives. On local campaigns, Cleveland.com said technology companies and business groups contributed more than $400,000 to defeat ballot measures, based on county campaign finance reports. Those contributions came amid efforts to oppose local measures restricting the construction of large data centers.
After the results were announced, the Conserve Ohio coalition urged state lawmakers to impose a 12-month moratorium on new data centers during the year-end session, according to Cleveland.com. The newspaper said the coalition had assisted local groups with city charter amendment measures. One of the coalition's lawyers also called on lawmakers to give local communities the authority to vote on proposed data center projects. The calls came after votes in Sunbury and other Ohio cities, while the specific effect of the Sunbury amendment on Amazon's project remains unresolved in published information. Amazon shares closed at $250.69 on Nov. 3, 2026, according to EL7 data.