Google Secures Tax Incentives for Major New Data Center in Ohio

Google Confirms $1 Billion Data Center Project in Southern Ohio January 23, 2026 Google has been officially confirmed as the company behind a proposed $1 billion data center in Scioto County, Ohio, marking another significant expansion of the tech giant's infrastructure footprint in the state. The move underscores the intense competition among hyperscalers to secure strategic locations with favorable conditions for building the massive computing capacity required for cloud services and artificial intelligence. The Scioto County Commission granted Google a 75 percent tax abatement for 15 years, a decision that publicly revealed the company's involvement. The agreement includes an annual payment in lieu of taxes (PILOT) of $500,000, with additional compensation based on the facility's square footage upon completion. The project, proposed under the entity Tilted Gate LLC, involves constructing a 500,000-square-foot (approximately 46,450-square-meter) facility in Franklin Furnace, a location on Ohio's southern border with Kentucky. In a statement, Molly Kocour Boyle, Google's head of Midwest data center public affairs, said, "Google is considering a potential data center project in Scioto County, Ohio. We are still very early in the process, working closely with the local leadership." This project continues Google's multi-billion-dollar investment wave in Ohio, which began in 2019 with a $600 million facility in New Albany. Subsequent commitments have totaled several billion more, including a $2.3 billion investment announced just last year. The development is a significant economic win for Scioto County and reflects a broader trend of major tech companies targeting the U.S. Midwest for new data center campuses. These regions often offer available land, access to power and water resources, and competitive incentive packages. For Google, the expansion strengthens its infrastructure network's resilience and capacity, positioning it to meet growing demand for its services in the central United States. Source: datacenterdynamics