The Ground Rules

The cloud needs ground rules.

Companies are building seven gas power plants to run New Albany's data centers.

The plants total 1,936 megawatts.2 They sit in and next to the business park, which already holds 40 data centers.1 Two still need state approval, and anyone can comment on them.

Join us How to take part See the seven plants
  • 3–5 years
    that AEP Ohio has said a grid connection can take, so the newest data centers are building their own gas plants instead9
  • 2 pending
    NEO (500 MW) and PowerConneX 3 (450 MW) await a state decision3,4
  • $29.4 billion
    added to regional grid capacity costs by data center demand over four auctions, per the independent market monitor for PJM, the grid that includes Ohio5
  • 1 billion gal
    of water withdrawn in 2025 by Google's New Albany data center alone6
  1. 200 MWSocrates South, operating
  2. 200 MWSocrates North, approved / under construction
  3. 250 MWSocrates the Younger, approved / under construction
  4. 120 MWPowerConneX I, approved / under construction
  5. 216 MWPowerConneX II, approved / under construction
  6. 500 MWNEO, awaiting decision
  7. 450 MWPowerConneX 3, awaiting decision
Operating Approved / under construction Awaiting decision 1,936 MW2

Next deadline: Dec. 3, 11:59 p.m.

Public comments close on the Ohio EPA air permit for Socrates the Younger, a 250 MW gas plant with 20 turbines and 4 engines at 3439 Clover Valley Rd, built for Meta.7 How to comment

What's happening

The newest data centers are building their own gas plants instead of waiting for the grid. The state, not the city, decides whether they get built.9,11

  1. Since 2010Data centers come to New AlbanyThe city counts more than $49 billion invested and about 1,800 jobs.8
  2. Since 2025The newest projects stop waiting for grid powerAEP Ohio has said a connection can take three to five years,9 so they are building their own gas plants. A 2025 state law, House Bill 15, made that easier.10
  3. August 2026The first plant begins running2
  4. About November 11A second plant is due online2
  5. NowTwo plants await a state decisionIn both cases, the City of New Albany has signed a settlement recommending approval.3,4

The city "does not have the authority to approve, deny, or otherwise determine whether these facilities are constructed."

City of New Albany11

The Ohio Power Siting Board decides, and Ohio EPA issues the air permits.11

Map of the New Albany area with the seven plant sites and an orange exhaust plume drifting north

Interactive map

Downwind New Albany

Tap your neighborhood to see when the wind carries the plants' exhaust toward you, and how much it adds under real Columbus weather. It's a screening model built from the permit applications, not a regulatory study.

Open the map

Explore the facts

The seven gas plants

Who owns each plant, which data center it serves, its size, its status, its state case number, and what it's allowed to emit.

See the plants

The city's position & incentives

What the city says now and what it said before, the tax breaks data centers receive, and the jobs they promised.

See the city's record

Water, grid & your bill

How much water data centers draw from the Columbus system, why the grid can't keep up, and what data center demand has done to capacity prices.

See water, grid & bills

Join us

We want data centers held to the full Clean Air Act, with the best pollution controls and no strain on our water or electric bills.

Where we stand

Take part

Upcoming deadlines, plus step-by-step instructions for commenting to the state siting board, Ohio EPA, city council and your legislators.

Get involved

Sources

  1. City of New Albany, "Frequently Asked Resident Questions," accessed Nov. 5, 2026. datacenters.newalbanyohio.org
  2. See The seven gas plants for each plant's filings. Total and count from The Reporting Project, Oct. 23, 2026 (thereportingproject.org); operating dates from Will-Power OH's filings of July 22 and Nov. 3, 2026 in OPSB cases 25-0185-EL-BLN and 25-0188-EL-BGN (docket).
  3. Joint Stipulation and Recommendation, OPSB case 26-0627-EL-BGN (NEO), filed Oct. 19, 2026. PUCO docket
  4. Joint Stipulation and Recommendation, OPSB case 26-0361-EL-BGN (PowerConneX New Albany 3), filed Nov. 2, 2026. PUCO docket
  5. Monitoring Analytics (PJM independent market monitor), "Analysis of the 2028/2029 RPM Base Residual Auction, Part A," Oct. 30, 2026. monitoringanalytics.com (PDF)
  6. Google, 2026 Environmental Report, p. 97. sustainability.google (PDF)
  7. Ohio EPA, public comment page for draft permit P0139969, viewed Nov. 5, 2026. ohioepa.commentinput.com
  8. City of New Albany, "New Albany Data Centers" and "Our Community," accessed Nov. 5, 2026. datacenters.newalbanyohio.org
  9. Katie Millard, "New Albany gets small electric grid to power new data center," NBC4, 2026. nbc4i.com
  10. PUCO Chair Jenifer French, comments before the Ohio House Select Committee on Data Centers, May 27, 2026. legislature.ohio.gov (PDF)
  11. City of New Albany, "Natural Gas Power," accessed Nov. 5, 2026. newalbanyohio.org