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Ramaswamy pledges free power near Ohio data centers
The GOP gubernatorial candidate said communities should directly benefit from future AI infrastructure investments.
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Malvika Choudhary - Thu, 06, Aug 2026
- 12:45 EDT
- 63
Vivek Ramaswamy / X/ Vivek Ramaswamy
Ohio Republican gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy on Aug. 6 proposed a requirement for new data centers to provide free electricity, property tax relief and stronger environmental protections for nearby communities.
"Despite my opponents' claims, I'm not 'pro-data center.' I'm pro-Ohio, and I have a plan to fix the problem," Ramaswamy said in a post on X announcing what he called his "Ohioans-First" data center policy pledge.
Also Read: Ohio Police union endorses Vivek Ramaswamy
Under his proposal, any new data center built in Ohio would be required to ensure that nearby homeowners pay no residential electricity costs, receive property tax relief and are protected by full compliance with air and water quality regulations while preserving farmland.
MY DATA CENTER POLICY PLEDGE: OHIOANS-FIRST
— Vivek Ramaswamy (@VivekGRamaswamy) August 6, 2026
A top concern I hear from Ohioans across our state – second only to property taxes – is the accelerating pace of data center expansion. Key citizen concerns about data centers include rising electric bills, noise, pollution, and the…
"If any one of these three conditions is not met, the data center won't be built. Period," Ramaswamy said, adding that he would work with the Ohio legislature to codify the commitments into state law after taking office.
Ramaswamy also pledged to issue an executive order on his first day in office to halt approvals for new data center project announcements until the proposed legislation is enacted.
The entrepreneur and former Republican presidential candidate said the proposal strikes a middle ground between unrestricted data center growth and an outright ban, arguing that Ohio should continue attracting construction jobs and investment while ensuring local communities share in the benefits.
According to the proposal, data centers could generate electricity through dedicated natural gas or nuclear power plants built alongside their facilities. Excess electricity would either be credited to residential customers within a designated "benefit zone" or operators would directly reimburse nearby households for their electric bills.
Ramaswamy said even a portion of surplus electricity from a large data center-powered facility could supply tens of thousands of homes, allowing many Ohio counties to eliminate residential electricity costs for residents within those benefit zones.
The proposal also calls for ending future property tax abatements for data centers. Instead, operators would be required to pay their full property tax obligations, with the resulting revenue funding rebates for Ohio homeowners.
Ramaswamy said the approach would provide tax relief without reducing funding for schools, police departments or fire services.
On environmental protections, the proposal would require data centers to comply with all existing air and water quality standards, recycle and reuse water using available technologies, and prioritize construction on vacant or former industrial sites rather than productive farmland.
"We will require that when the water is released, it comes out just as clean as when the data center took it in," Ramaswamy said, adding that Ohio's water resources and farmland "are some of Ohio's greatest and most precious resources."
Ramaswamy also criticized his Democratic opponent's recently announced proposal that data centers should not increase electricity costs for ratepayers, saying he had advocated that position earlier but that it did not go far enough.
He said his administration would seek to enact the legislation in early 2027 if elected governor.
Ramaswamy, who won the Republican primary in May, is set to face Democratic nominee Amy Acton in Ohio's gubernatorial election on Nov. 3. The winner will succeed term-limited Republican Gov. Mike DeWine.
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