Ohio Targets Data Center Energy Costs | Columbus News

Columbus News Today | 2 Min News | The Daily News Now! · Jul 21, 2026 · 2m

Ohio lawmakers are racing to curb soaring energy bills, with new state and federal bills targeting rate hikes blamed on booming data centers. House Bill 970 would freeze utility rate increases for a year, while Senator Jon Husted’s federal bill pushes states to manage costs from massive energy users like data centers. Utilities say rising demand from these facilities drives up costs — even though they can’t generate power themselves — and pass those costs directly to consumers. Past efforts stalled over tax breaks, but lawmakers are back with fresh proposals to shield households from further…