The 3 reasons Wood County, OH turned against its $750M Meta data center

At first, a 2023 announcement for a new Ohio data center barely made a splash. “Wood County data center expected to cover 750 acres, cost $750M, employ 50”, quietly reported one local news organization. Township trustees signed on. Two local education boards endorsed tax abatements for the project, which would be built on “a tract of farmland” and “could be highly lucrative” for Wood County.

Two and a half years later, the mood had flipped. By the time the county commission was discussing the matter in February 2026, nearly 200 residents were filling town halls to question, protest, and fight the development.

In between, a lot had happened. A shell corporation called Liames LLC bought 12 parcels of land for an unnamed hyperscaler. The county began building traffic infrastructure to accommodate construction vehicles for the project. The hyperscaler was unmasked as Meta. And the county began considering rezoning farmland in order to bring more acreage to the project.

With each new revelation, the opposition mounted. At the first County Commissioner’s meeting about the data center in 2023, only one neighbor showed up to object. By August 2025, 50 locals were attending meetings to make their voices heard. And by February 2026, almost 200 county residents packed into the room with signs, questions, and simmering anger.

When Meta decided to build in Wood County, the site seemed perfect. But before construction could even get off the ground, they became embroiled in a battle with the residents next door.

The throughline of Wood County is the throughline of dozens of others: By the time a hyperscaler signs, sentiment has been shifting for months. Most developers just don't see it.

Ohio’s warning signs for data construction

Ohio is no stranger to data center construction. In 2025 and 2026, most new data center construction was concentrated in the Rust Belt states between Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, with Ohio as its anchor. The state has fought to attract hyperscaler attention through tax breaks, government-signed NDAs, and other incentives.

But Spark AI’s data shows that many of these authorities aren’t aligned with their constituents. As of April 2026, 38 of Ohio’s 88 counties had negative or mixed community sentiment towards data centers, considerably outnumbering the ‘supportive’ ones.

The opposition to the Meta data center in Wood County is just one part of a rising wave of anti-data center sentiment in Ohio and across the country. “[When we started considering the data center], we were hardly being secretive,” one county official said, per Big Independent Media. “It wasn’t a controversial thing. There was no opposition to data centers anywhere.” Now, there is.

The forces that caught locals’ attention

Three factors combined to frustrate the project: rising national opposition, expanding project scope, and a lack of transparency.

Rising National Opposition: Wood County fits into a trend of rising data center opposition from the grassroots. But this tide isn’t universal: Nearby Erie County, less than an hour’s drive away, receives a strong Spark AI score for data center feasibility. Opposition isn’t easily predictable or driven by geography, politics, or region. It’s something you can only hear with an ear to the ground.

Expanding Project Scope: Anger in Wood County also accelerated as the project began expanding in scope. In August 2025, the county commission considered rezoning 100 acres to add to the data center’s original footprint. Community members took to comment sections to highlight their anger:

“Who can we vote out over this?” demanded a local.

“Prepare for your electric bill to increase,” warned one resident.

“What are the benefits to the citizens in the areas that these data centers are moving into?” asked another. “Because from what I've researched, there's only negatives—polluted air and water, power grids pushed to the limit, and job loss from AI.”

Transparency Issues: These concerns were compounded by a perceived lack of transparency and agency. The county revealed Meta’s role late in the process, bringing a surge of concern after hearings had already taken place. The expanding scope gave residents an uneasy sense about whether the project would be constrained. And although locals stormed the town halls they heard about, informed by Facebook organizing, they despaired about their impact. “It doesn’t matter what the people want,” one local said on Facebook. “The township will vote to rezone the property, just like the land north of [State Route] 582.”

Other data centers: Windfall or boondoggle?

Wood County is a warning sign to data center developers, from boutique builders to hyperscalers. Meta selected a site they thought would be pain-free. Now, they have to mediate between their needs, local opposition, and county commissioners.

As data center construction continues to rise, developers will need to screen sites closely for local support or opposition. Long before construction starts, it’s key to anticipate community reactions. Locals increasingly oppose data centers in dozens of authorities, leading to sweeping moratoria and project cancellations.

If Meta had screened Wood County against Spark AI before signing, the sentiment trajectory would have been visible in the data months before the first protest. Spark AI is the country's largest database of community sentiment, zoning ordinances, and authority voting records, purpose-built for data center, solar, and battery storage developers running site diligence at scale. If you’re a developer working on data centers or renewable technology, we’d love to trade notes and show you how Spark helps teams diligence 6x faster.