Findlay Hiding Looming Data Center Project?
BY JEFF SKINNER
FINDLAY - Speculation is growing that a major data center could soon rise just outside Findlay’s city limits in Allen Township, with some observers questioning whether the project might eventually be folded into the city through annexation as local leaders sidestep calls for a development pause.
According online sources, $5.9 million land deal closed March 5 for 110 acres in the North Findlay Industrial Park, expanding holdings tied to One Power Company and its parent, OnSite Partners. The purchase adds to 40 acres bought in 2025 and a 74-acre wind energy campus along Interstate 75 that already includes 10 utility-scale turbines, the nation’s first fully digital transmission-voltage substation and a new $31 million highway interchange, according to a LinkedIn post by commercial real estate executive Terry Coyne.
The timing aligns with OnSite’s February acquisition by Basalt Infrastructure Partners, a firm backed by more than $7 billion in assets. OnSite specializes in “behind-the-meter” power solutions — generating electricity on-site to bypass lengthy grid interconnection delays — and has partnered with American Electric Power to deploy Bloom Energy fuel cells for data center customers.
An investigative report published in March highlights a nearby 150-megawatt substation at 12385 Township Road 215, commissioned in 2023 and fully leased for 15 years under a “take-or-pay” contract to a single undisclosed customer. The report, which pieces together SEC filings, land records and utility upgrades, describes the setup as tailor-made for a hyperscale data center campus, positioned midway between existing tech giant facilities roughly 30 miles away.
Allen Township, which sits immediately north of Findlay and remains largely unzoned after a court-invalidated 2025 vote, will hold a new zoning referendum May 5. If voters reject zoning, developers could proceed with county building permits and face virtually no local oversight, the report notes. Public records requests prepared by the report’s authors specifically ask the city of Findlay about pre-annexation agreements or discussions involving Allen Township parcels, signaling that city expansion could be on the table.
Mayor Christina Muryn's administration have declined to impose a temporary moratorium on data centers inside Findlay. At the March 17 council meeting, Councilman Dan DeLong, R-7, raised resident concerns after a Planning and Zoning Committee discussion. Hancock County Regional Planning Director Matt Cordonnier told members that data centers are not listed anywhere in the city’s zoning code and therefore are not permitted. DeLong asked whether council should consider a moratorium while the code is reviewed, however council took no action. Members agreed only to send the issue back to the Planning and Zoning Committee for further study.
Mayor and council statements have emphasized that current zoning already blocks data centers, rendering a moratorium unnecessary. Yet amending the code to allow them would require only a straightforward vote by the Planning and Zoning Committee and then city council — a process that could be completed in weeks or months if priorities shift, planning officials have acknowledged.
Some residents are concerned the reluctance to pause development as telling. With land deals accelerating, power infrastructure already in place and AEP pursuing multiple substation and transmission upgrades in Hancock County to support “economic growth,” critics question whether city leaders are fully transparent about inquiries from potential developers.
The investigative report urges residents to file Ohio Public Records Act requests for correspondence, permits and annexation talks, noting that behind-the-meter arrangements allow projects to advance with less public visibility. A ProtonMail tip line has been provided for anonymous submissions.
Findlay, ranked the No. 2 micropolitan area in the U.S. this year by Site Selection Magazine, has actively courted industrial growth. The city’s 148-acre Findlay Commerce Park has been listed as an AEP-qualified data center site since 2013. A separate $169 million Sheetz distribution center project underscores the I-75 corridor’s appeal.
The speculation fits a statewide pattern. Ohio now hosts or has planned nearly 300 data centers, driven by artificial intelligence demand, mass surveillance and police/military applications. At least 18 communities have enacted or considered moratoriums amid worries over power consumption, water use and farmland loss. State lawmakers recently passed a bill creating a data center study commission, and separate proposals seek to limit tax breaks or ban nondisclosure agreements used in early negotiations.
In Findlay, the March 17 discussion reflected those tensions. While no project has been publicly announced, the convergence of land acquisitions, leased megawatt-scale power and an imminent township zoning vote has fueled local Facebook groups and online chatter.
Council is scheduled to revisit the zoning review in coming weeks. Whether that leads to code changes — or whether the Allen Township vote clears the path for construction just beyond city boundaries — remains to be seen. For now, officials maintain the status quo suffices, even as clues accumulate that Findlay’s priorities may already be shifting.
