Data Centers: Daily Notes | May 28, 2026
Major rejections in Hanover County and Upper Macungie; Govs. DeWine and Shapiro roll out statewide moves on tax breaks and project standards.
At A Glance 🔽
- Hanover County, VA Board of Supervisors rejects 430-acre, 900-megawatt Tract data center.
- Ohio Gov. DeWine pauses sales tax exemption after revelation it cost the state $1.6 billion in 2025.
- Pennsylvania Gov. Shapiro rolls out voluntary "GRID" standards tying state incentives to power, transparency, and labor commitments.
- Pulaski County, Arkansas Quorum Court enacts 12-month moratorium on new data centers, grandfathering two existing projects.
- Upper Macungie Township, PA zoning board unanimously denies 2.6 million-square-foot Air Products data center campus.
- Walton County, Florida commissioners vote to draft an outright ban on AI data centers.
- Hundreds protest proposed Coachella Valley Technology Campus; council weighs $10,000-$25,000 third-party legal review.
- Wrightstown, Wisconsin village board puts non-binding data center referendum on August 11 ballot.
- Iron County, Utah enacts 180-day moratorium on new AI data center applications.
- Faribault, Minnesota data center stalled pending court ruling on environmental advocacy group's appeal.
Hanover County, Virginia
The Hanover County Board of Supervisors voted to reject Tract's proposed Mountain Road Technology Park, killing a 900-megawatt, nearly 430-acre data center campus in western Hanover.
The Denver-based developer piled on proffers ahead of the vote, including a $15 million payment for a pump station and water storage tank, $6 million for land conservation and parks, road improvements, and funding for Hanover Sheriff's Office traffic control during peak construction. The site would have used an average of 600,000 gallons of water per day, peaking at 2 million.
Ohio
Gov. Mike DeWine abruptly paused Ohio's sales tax exemption for data centers, directing the Ohio Tax Credit Authority to stop accepting new requests after a final June 1 meeting.
"As this work is ongoing, I believe it is appropriate for the Ohio Tax Credit Authority to pause its consideration of new data center tax exemptions while the full impact of data center growth in Ohio is being reviewed,” said Ohio Governor Mike DeWine."
Governor DeWine Announces Pause of Data Center Tax Exemption
The pause follows reporting that the exemption cost Ohio $1.6 billion in 2025, eleven times the Department of Taxation's original $136 million estimate. That's up from $555 million in 2024, with another $166.8 million lost to localities with their own sales taxes.
The exemption will be on hold while the General Assembly's newly minted Select Committee on Data Centers takes testimony. DeWine framed the move as supporting the legislative review rather than a ban, noting that previously approved data centers have reported $27.2 billion in capital investment in Ohio in 2025.
Pennsylvania
Gov. Josh Shapiro unveiled the Governor's Responsible Infrastructure Development Standards, a voluntary "GRID" framework tying state incentives and fast-tracked permitting to conditions on data center developers.
Participating developers would pay for their own incremental power generation rather than pass costs to ratepayers, secure clean energy commitments, build solar-ready facilities over 100,000 square feet, and publicly disclose electricity demand, water consumption and sources, wastewater discharge, and air emissions. To qualify, projects must commit to $250 million in new investment, 200 prevailing-wage construction jobs, and 50 permanent jobs paying 125% of Pennsylvania's average wage within four years.
Shapiro paired the announcement with a stop in Archbald, where residents are organizing against six proposed campuses totaling 51 buildings and more than 1,400 diesel generators. The Archbald Neighborhood Association and Stop Archbald Data Centers said GRID does not go far enough, noting the existing Archbald proposals fall outside the program.
Pulaski County, Arkansas
The Pulaski County Quorum Court passed a 12-month moratorium on new data centers Tuesday, pausing future projects while officials craft regulations, with a last-minute amendment grandfathering two existing proposals.
Justice of the Peace Rebekah Davis said the Quorum Court only learned about the two in-progress projects at its early-May agenda meeting. The pause, modeled on the county's existing billboard moratorium, gives the planning board time to develop a regulatory framework. AVAIO, Entergy Arkansas, and Central Arkansas Water presented to the court, but Davis said developer answers were evasive.
Upper Macungie Township, Pennsylvania
The Upper Macungie Township Zoning Hearing Board voted to deny Air Products' application for a 2.6 million-square-foot data center campus on the company's former 194-acre headquarters site at 7300 Cetronia Road. The board first denied Air Products' third request for a continuance, then ruled on the merits before a standing-room-only crowd.
State Sen. Jarrett Coleman and Rep. Jamie Walsh introduced a package of bills the same day to repeal Pennsylvania's 2021 data center tax break and let municipalities enact an 18-month moratorium on new and pending applications. The board will issue a written decision within 45 days; Air Products has 30 days from then to appeal.
Walton County, Florida
The Walton County Commission instructed staff to draft an outright ban on AI data centers, acting before any project has been proposed and before new state AI laws take effect in July.
Commissioner Danny Glidewell said early action could give the county a chance to be grandfathered in if the state preempts local rules. The first reading is expected at the commission's June 9 meeting. Neighboring Bay County is set to consider a temporary moratorium next week.
Coachella, California
Hundreds of residents protested the proposed Coachella Valley Technology Campus outside Wednesday's city council meeting as the council weighed hiring outside legal counsel to review the project.
The campus would be developed through a municipal utility agreement between the city and Stronghold Power Systems and could grow as large as 450 acres with six data centers. The council is considering third-party counsel at a cost between $10,000 and $25,000. City officials say no formal plans have been submitted and the project still needs an environmental impact report.
Wrightstown, Wisconsin
May 27, 2026 Agenda
The Wrightstown Village Board voted to put a non-binding referendum on the August 11 primary ballot asking whether the village should authorize utility infrastructure for potential large-scale data center projects.
No formal proposal is on file yet, but real estate developer Cloverleaf Infrastructure has confirmed it tried unsuccessfully to buy land in the area. Trustee Ryan Roebke said he'd put "a very high value" on the referendum results when voting on any future project. Residents have started a petition for a moratorium, citing precedents in Greenville and Manitowoc County.
Iron County, Utah
Item 5. ORDINANCE 2026-13, ADOPTING A TEMPORARY LAND USE REGULATION PROHIBITING THE ACCEPTANCE OR PROCESSING OF APPLICATIONS FOR DATA CENTERS
The Iron County Planning Commission enacted a 180-day moratorium on new AI data center applications, capping the pause at the maximum allowed under Utah law as planners review zoning ordinances.
County planner Brett Hamilton said five months processing the proposed Pronghorn data center (also known as Antelope Data Center) revealed gaps in the existing code, and a second application tied to BrightNight's Red Butte project pushed the commission to act. Pronghorn, a 640-acre project northwest of Cedar City, is grandfathered in and goes to a vote June 4. It would require a one-time fill of 19 acre-feet of water plus 3 to 5 acre-feet to maintain, and Commissioner Paul Cozzens acknowledged the rights in Basin 71 are already fully appropriated.
Faribault, Minnesota
A proposed Faribault data center remains on hold as the Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy's appeal of the city's environmental review heads toward a court decision expected in the coming weeks.
The Faribault City Council approved the project's environmental study findings last August, clearing the way for Archer Datacenter. MCEA's appeal contends the study "vastly underreported the facility's impact on climate change and Minnesota's electricity grid", and the group is pushing for a full Environmental Impact Statement.
Residents continue to raise concerns at council meetings around PFAS emissions, water and energy use, and the absence of binding environmental commitments. Carleton College environmental studies director Devavani Chatterjea moderated an April 22 listening session at the Minnesota Capitol Rotunda calling for a statewide two-year moratorium on new data center approvals.
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