Sammis Power Plant Data Center, Stratton, Ohio

They knocked down the smokestacks and started looking for a buyer. Energy Transition and Environmental Management, a Houston company that bought the former W H Sammis coal plant at Stratton, in Jefferson County, in 2023, is exploring a data center there, though its co-founder was careful to say: "We're not data center developers." Dan McDevitt told Jefferson County commissioners on Wednesday, June 25, 2025 that such a campus would need "500 megawatts of power", and that the company was weighing "what happens next at that site" and "some kind of industrial development". Demolition is most of the way through: "We've knocked down most of the buildings, and we expect to finish that project in the first quarter of 2027."

The site has a switching station, a substation, water and rail, and the company is considering bringing in a natural gas pipeline to generate on site. McDevitt spoke of billions of dollars of investment, about 1,000 construction jobs over a couple or three years, and a couple of hundred permanent posts. The smokestacks came down in April 2025 and most of the structures are gone.

The county was enthusiastic. Commissioner Tony Morelli said "our board will do anything possible to bring in new opportunities", and Commissioner Jake Kleineke said: "I see it as a great opportunity for the county to grow. I don't see a downside to it, honestly." Under Ohio's House Bill 15 the commissioners were considering designating the property a priority investment area, which would bring accelerated permit reviews, brownfield funding for site preparation and a utility tax exemption on infrastructure delivering power or natural gas.

The entry stands as proposed with no acreage, no capacity, no cost and no developer, and marks pushback as unknown.

The upper Ohio valley is filling with this. Seven other sites sit within 38 kilometres, including an operating 144 megawatt Mawson site at Midland 19 kilometres away, an Aligned project recorded at 2,000 megawatts at 22, a 1,000 megawatt campus under construction at Fort Cherry at 36, and a 496 megawatt land advertisement at Aliquippa at 35. The 1,808 megawatt Beaver Valley nuclear station is 20 kilometres away, the 1,210 megawatt South Field gas plant 13, and the 1,790 megawatt Cardinal coal plant 31.