Amazon’s Wilmington, Ohio data center plan is stalled because the company couldn’t answer basic facility questions on cooling, generators, noise, and environmental impact.
That lack of technical transparency is a red flag for a power- and water-hungry AI-era build that will likely lean on dense GPU deployments.
Local residents are pushing hard on operational details that usually stay opaque: cooling design, backup generation strategy, traffic, and water and noise footprints.
From an AI infra lens, this shows community tolerance is now directly tied to explaining how energy, resiliency, and sustainability are engineered, not just promising jobs.
The planning commission’s decision to table the project underscores that “we’ll get back to you” doesn’t fly when you’re siting large-scale data center capacity near neighborhoods.
This is a useful case study for how future GPU data center siting battles will hinge on specific disclosures around power, cooling, and environmental controls.
Worth reading in full for anyone planning or operating AI-capable data centers in populated areas.
Source: Amazon Data Center proposal in Wilmington tabled after company reps fail to answer questions
