Bitdeer’s 750MW Ohio AI Data Center Plan Draws Local Scrutiny
Bitdeer (NASDAQ: BTDR)’s plan to build a large artificial intelligence data center campus in northeast Ohio drew a packed public meeting this week, underscoring the local scrutiny facing power-intensive computing projects as bitcoin miners push further into AI infrastructure.
The Singapore-based bitcoin mining and AI infrastructure company is seeking to develop a 15-building campus on about 257 acres at the Turnpike Commerce Center in Shalersville Township, Portage County, in partnership with Streetsboro-based Geis Development.
The proposed project would start with two data halls and a 51,500-square-foot office building. A second phase would add 12 more data halls, bringing the campus to a potential total power capacity of 750 megawatts if fully built out, according to local reporting by News 5 Cleveland.
The June 16 meeting at Shalersville Town Hall drew about 200 people inside, with dozens more standing outside and listening through open windows. Bitdeer and Geis presented the project for about an hour before taking questions from residents and township trustees during a meeting that lasted roughly 3.5 hours.
Questions from residents focused on electricity consumption, water use, noise, fire risk and broader environmental impact. At points, the meeting became heated, with some residents calling for township officials to reject the project or for Bitdeer to abandon the plan.
Bitdeer senior project manager Paul Hanson told attendees that the site was attractive because of its size, industrial setting, proximity to transportation infrastructure and access to long-term power, according to News 5.
The Shalersville plan has not been approved. The township has a moratorium on data center development that runs until early November, giving local officials time to study the sector and consider rules covering issues including noise, lighting, landscaping, building size, utility use and fire suppression.
Bitdeer and Geis have sought to frame the project as an economic development opportunity. The companies said the development could create about 400 local construction jobs over five years and 150 to 200 permanent jobs once fully built out. Bitdeer said Phase 1 would generate about $2.17 million in annual real estate tax revenue, including increases for Crestwood Local Schools, Shalersville Township and the joint fire department.
The dedicated project website says the initial phase would include two 48,000-square-foot buildings and the office building, with the broader development designed as a two-phase “Technology Information Center” project. The site also says Bitdeer is not seeking real estate tax abatements and that the fully built-out campus is expected to generate about $7.1 million in annual real estate taxes, compared with about $40,000 today.
Water and noise have emerged as central points of concern. Bitdeer has said the project would use county water infrastructure already installed at the industrial park and would not drill wells. The project website says the site would use air-cooling technology and average less than 3,000 gallons of water per day, with closed-loop systems and no discharge of industrial waste into the ground or local wells.
On noise, the companies said the campus would use sound walls, earth mounds and landscaping to keep levels below 50 decibels at the property line.
The Shalersville proposal would expand Bitdeer’s growing Ohio footprint. The company is already developing a 221MW bitcoin mining site in Massillon, about an hour southwest of Shalersville. Bitdeer has also outlined a 570MW site in Clarington, Ohio, where it has said local utility capacity is expected to be available by the end of the third quarter of 2026, and a 300MW grid-interconnected development site in Niles targeted for energization in 2029.
