Cleveland Council Is Writing the Data Center Rules. Your Neighborhood Is the Stake.

Thursday night, Cleveland showed up. Residents packed the Collinwood Rec Center for the first of three public hearings on data centers, and WKYC 3News reporter Sia Nyorkor was in the room. Shout-out to her for being there and getting it on the record.

Here is where the power sits right now. City Council is weighing legislation on data center development. The city already rejected Lakeland Equity Group’s permit application for a proposed $1.6 billion, 35-acre data center in Slavic Village, and Council put a temporary pause on new standalone data center projects while it gathers information and hears from residents.

Councilman Brian Kazy chairs Council’s Data Center Working Group. He told the room the hearings exist so nobody can say they weren’t heard. “Somebody may say something tonight that we didn’t even think of,” he said, according to WKYC.

The people at the microphone brought the right questions. A Cleveland teacher said power outages already hit her students in the classroom and asked what more demand on the grid would do. Others asked where these projects would land, and whether the neighborhoods would carry the burden while somebody else collects the benefit.

Those questions deserve real answers before anybody votes.

What we’re going to do

RealPower.TV is staying on this until Council acts. We are going to sit down with people who work in and around this industry, on energy, the environment, jobs and the money behind these projects. And we are going to talk to you, the residents who live next to the land on the map.

A data center is a decision about your electric bill, your block and who gets paid. We want the public to know who is deciding and what they’re deciding before the vote, not after it. More is coming, and we will post it here as it unfolds.

Show up

Council says the proposed rules will be presented publicly before any final action. The remaining hearings are listed on City Council’s website. Go, and say your piece on the record. Then tell us what you heard.

Reporting credit: WKYC 3News, “Cleveland residents speak out on proposed data centers during first public hearing,” by Sia Nyorkor, Sept. 24, 2026. Hearing schedule: Cleveland City Council.

Kenn Dowell is the founder and publisher of RealPower.TV and CEO of Strategic Resources Consulting. Join RealPower.TV to get every edition.