“Northwest Ohio offers a lot of advantages for people looking to locate a data center. Good land, good energy and good people. It’s wide-open farmland to build these big data center campuses. Northwest Ohio is one, if not the top market, we are looking at.”
— Will Turner, Managing Director, Upterra
What Northwest Ohio Offers
Energy
Northwest Oho offers an abundance of energy provided from multiple sources – energy that is efficient, cost-effective, reliable and redundant. Significantly, this region can pull natural gas from the Marcellus and Utica Shale plays, Canada, the Dakotas and the Gulf.
Businesses can competitively shop for natural gas daily from three price points in NW Ohio
Infrastructure
A robust pipeline infrastructure allows businesses to easily access natural gas. We also have a tremendous amount of electric transmission infrastructure to move energy efficiently across the region. In addition, an extensive transportation network where three of the country’s most traveled interstates cross allows companies to cost-effectively move trucks, tractors, equipment and materials in and out of sites without disrupting communities.
325 miles of pipeline running through Northwest Ohio
Land
Data centers require large tracts of land – Northwest Ohio has it, possessing more than 3.5 million acres of farmland. The land is located near power infrastructure at reasonable prices, and it’s flat, making it easy to build on.
Northwest Ohio could potentially accommodate 10 data centers. With data centers maxing out at 1,000 acres, that would take up two-tenths of 1% of NW Ohio farmland.
Water
Situated at the western basin of Lake Erie, the Toledo region has access to an unlimited supply of water for industrial needs. In addition, many municipal and wastewater treatment systems offer the capacities to serve data center needs.
The City of Toledo has 70 million gallons daily of excess water capacity
Fiber
Because of its position on Lake Erie’s western basin and being centrally located between major Midwest metros, Northwest Ohio has numerous long-haul backbone fiber cables running through this area. Fiber cable from New York City to Chicago passes right through this region.
Fiber graphic
Construction Expertise
Data center buildings are often multi-year projects that require expertise. Northwest Ohio’s building trades and construction companies are well versed in building large, complicated multi-million dollar facilities such as nuclear power plants, refineries, hospitals, roads/bridges, and corporate headquarters.
Long-term construction jobs, typically 10 years, with average pay of $85,000
Workforce
Located in a hub of higher educational activity, Northwest Ohio offers a pipeline of technical talent to support date centers, such as computer and software engineering, data design and facilities management
More than 3 dozen colleges and universities in the tri-state area with total enrollment exceeding 350,000 students
Stay Current on the Energy Industry in Northwest Ohio
Key Contact
Gary Thompson
Executive V.P.
Business Development
(419) 304-9585