Why Licking County is Very High risk
Score calculated from four factors: power infrastructure, water capacity, land availability, and current exposure (known projects in the county). Licking County scores 92/100.
Licking County is the most power-rich data-center territory in Ohio. AEP Ohio's data center tariff (effective July 23, 2025) governs all new contracts above 25 MW. The county hosts dedicated transmission upgrades for the Microsoft, Cologix, and existing Meta/Google/Amazon campuses.
New Albany has invested heavily in water and wastewater capacity to accommodate Intel and the data-center cluster. Microsoft uses waterless cooling at its existing campuses; cooling design varies by operator.
New Albany International Business Park, Johnstown campus zone, and rural Licking County parcels offer extensive industrial-zoned land. Microsoft alone holds over 700 acres in the county.
Among the highest active-project density in any U.S. county: Meta (operational), Google (operational, +$2.3B announced), Amazon (operational), QTS (operational), Microsoft (under construction at 3 sites), Cologix (announced $7B campus), Edged Energy ($250M, operational).
The facts, as filed.
Microsoft Licking, Cologix Johnstown, explained.
If Ohio is the world's fourth-largest data-center hub, Licking County is its capital. Concentrated around New Albany, the cluster includes operational Meta, Google, Amazon, and QTS campuses; Edged Energy's $250 million Edged Columbus site; and Intel's $20 billion semiconductor fabrication plant on adjacent land. Google announced an additional $2.3 billion Ohio investment in 2024. Amazon Data Services holds 28 facilities in Ohio, much of it concentrated in Licking County and the broader Columbus region.
Microsoft's involvement is the most volatile chapter. In October 2024, Microsoft announced a $1 billion investment in three Licking County campuses — New Albany (200 acres, 245,000 sq ft, $420M, completion late 2027), Heath, and Hebron. In April 2025, Microsoft pushed back the project, telling Mayor Sloan Spalding (New Albany) and Mayor Mark Johns (Heath) it was "evaluating sites in line with our investment strategy." The company resumed Heath and Hebron construction in February 2026, with bulk construction running March through August 2026 and completion targeted November 2026. New Albany site preparation continued throughout 2025.
Cologix's Johnstown announcement is the largest single Licking County data-center commitment to date: 8 data centers for an estimated $7 billion in capital investment. The Tax Credit Authority approved a 15-year, 100% sales-tax exemption estimated at $72.5 million on Microsoft's three centers alone — with the $1 billion investment expected to create a minimum of 20 new jobs (about $1 million per job in foregone tax revenue, per Policy Matters Ohio).
Microsoft has notably declined Heath and Hebron real-estate tax abatements — an unusual move that benefits the Lakewood Local School District. Heath economic-and-community-development director Brittany Misner described this as "of huge value" to the district. The decision suggests Microsoft is responding to the broader Ohio policy debate — including HB 710 (Demetriou-Workman) and SB 374 (Smith-Blessing) — by preemptively reducing its tax-incentive footprint.
How we got here.
For Licking County residents.
The Licking model
Licking County represents Ohio's most fully-developed hyperscale model: dense industrial-park clustering, dedicated transmission infrastructure, multiple operators sharing resources, and significant tax-incentive layering. It is also the model that most directly motivates the statewide policy reaction (HB 710, SB 374, the ballot amendment) — precisely because the cluster's costs (sales-tax exemptions estimated at $1B–$1.5B in foregone state revenue, per Policy Matters Ohio) are now visible.
Microsoft's tax-abatement decision
Microsoft's choice not to take real-estate tax abatements at Heath and Hebron is unusual and significant. It signals an industry recognition that the political cost of stacking incentives is rising. Whether other operators (notably Cologix at Johnstown, with its $7B footprint) will follow suit is the most-watched question for Ohio's broader incentive debate.
The school-district question
Lakewood Local School District benefits directly from Microsoft's tax position. By contrast, school districts hosting tax-abated data centers have raised concerns publicly: districts forfeit property-tax revenue for 30 years in exchange for relatively few permanent jobs. The Microsoft-Heath model is one alternative; the Cologix-Johnstown package terms have not been fully disclosed.
Resident concerns
Licking County's data-center density has not produced the same level of organized opposition as smaller Ohio counties — in part because residents have grown accustomed to industrial development tied to Intel, and in part because no NDA scandal has surfaced here. New Albany has invested heavily in water and wastewater capacity, mitigating the resource pressure that has triggered moratoriums in places like Ravenna. The risk to Licking residents is less acute and more cumulative: long-term electric-rate impacts under AEP Ohio's tariff, school-funding pressure from cumulative tax abatements, and farmland conversion.
Reporting we relied on.
- 10TV (WBNS Columbus) — Microsoft groundbreaking, project pauses and resumes
- DataCenterDynamics — Microsoft Licking County investment specs
- Engineering News-Record — Microsoft New Albany construction timeline
- Ellipse Solutions — Microsoft Licking County campus breakdown
- NBC4 (WCMH Columbus) — Edged Columbus and adjacent projects
- Policy Matters Ohio — sales-tax exemption analysis and per-job cost calculation
- Ohio Tax Credit Authority filings — Microsoft 15-year sales-tax exemption ($72.5M est.)
- Signal Ohio / Signal Statewide — data center tax-incentive analysis
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