EdgeConneX Ashville Data Center, Ashville, Ohio

Ashville's village council has moved to repeal its agreement with EdgeConneX for a data center campus and gas power plant on about 195 acres in the village, in Pickaway County, Ohio, rather than put it to a public vote in November. In early September 2026 the council introduced Resolution 16-2026 to repeal the deal, which under Ohio law takes the citizens' referendum off the November 3 ballot.

EdgeConneX plans two data center buildings on the parcel, and through an affiliate is seeking state approval for a natural gas power plant next to it. The Ohio Power Siting Board lists that plant, PowerConneX's Ashville Energy Center, at up to 800 megawatts of power on about 110 acres. The company originally planned a larger, 680-acre campus reaching into Harrison Township, but in early 2026 the council voted 4-2 against annexing about 400 acres of that farmland into the village.

Money was the village's reason to deal. On April 6, 2026 the council voted 5-1 to approve a term summary in which EdgeConneX offered up to $102 million to the village, Harrison Township and the Teays Valley Local School District. Village Administrator Bert Cline warned that without it, residents could face water bill increases of nearly $125 a month to pay for about $35 million in required water and sewer upgrades. The deal also exempted EdgeConneX from Ashville's data center moratorium.

Residents gathered 875 signatures for a referendum, and 669 were verified. The village's fiscal officer refused to certify the petition because the council had passed the resolution as an emergency, but on August 7 the Ohio Supreme Court unanimously ordered it certified, ruling the council never gave specific reasons for the emergency. On August 24 the Pickaway County Board of Elections voted 4-0 to put the question on the November ballot.

Repealing the term summary does not end the project. The repeal resolution says it does not affect other proceedings, including the gas plant case before the Ohio Power Siting Board, which held its local public hearing at Teays Valley High School on August 19. The siting board, not the village, has final authority over the gas plant and has approved projects in the past over local opposition.

The next decisions are the village council's final vote on the repeal and the siting board's ruling on the PowerConneX gas plant, case 26-196-EL-BGN.