Planned

Karis Critical Smart Farms Data Center (Beech Rd / Green Chapel Rd)

Karis Critical Smart Farms Data Center (Beech Rd / Green Chapel Rd) is a planned data center in New Albany, OH. Karis Critical paid $30.9M for the site in Aug 2025 and in Jan 2026 asked Ohio EPA for a permit to fill ~2 acres of wetlands/streams for an eight-building, ~1.6M sq ft 'Smart Farms' AI/cloud data center campus with three retention ponds. No megawatt figure disclosed; the company did not respond to press inquiries. Site lies in New Albany's Licking County business park zoning. (Source dated 2026-01-23.).

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Project status

Announced
Permitting
Under constructionNot yet
OperationalNot yet

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What’s next

Election Day is in 10 days.

Tuesday, November 3
Election Day
Sunday, November 1OH
Pataskala rejects proposed data center; voters to decide potential ban in November
Tuesday, November 3OH
Granville, Ohio Data Center Ban Heads to Nov. 3 Ballot

Latest news

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Records and documentation

Ohio state legislation

PUCO Case No. 23-891-EL-AEC - New Albany Data Center (Silicon Heartland) Electric ArrangementApprovaldis.puc.state.oh.usPUCO approved Feb 2024 -- New Albany Data Center leases a substation/equipment from AEP Ohio for an 8-year term, part of the $500M Silicon Heartland Datacenter Campus build.Download
PUCO Case No. 24-0508-EL-ATA - AEP Ohio Data Center TariffApprovaldis.puc.state.oh.usFiled May 2024; PUCO adopted a settlement (July 2025) requiring 25MW+ data center customers to commit to ≥85% minimum-take of subscribed capacity, 12-year contracts, 3-year exit fee. Companion Mobile Data Center tariff in the same docket. The template several other states' tariffs since referenced.Download
PUCO Case No. 25-0958-EL-AIR - AES Ohio Rate Case (Data Center Rate Class)Approvalocc.ohio.govUnopposed settlement filed ~July 2026 creating a separate Data Center rate class for AES Ohio, tied to ~2.1GW of contracted data-center load. PUCO order expected Dec 2026.Download
Marysville Community Reinvestment Area Agreement (City Council Meeting Packet)Community benefits agreementfas.orgCommunity Reinvestment Area agreement/council packet governing tax and community terms for a Marysville, Ohio data center project.Download
HB 983 - Data Center Accountability and Citizen Protection ActLegislationdatacenterbans.comEstablishes accountability and citizen-protection requirements for data centers.Download
HF2690 - Data center water/energy use reporting and tariffsLegislationdatacenterbans.comRequires reporting and tariff requirements for water and energy use by data centers.Download
Ohio Supreme Court Case No. 2025-1458 - Appeal of AEP Data Center TariffDocumentsupremecourt.ohio.govOhio Manufacturers' Association appeal (filed Nov 2025) challenging PUCO's approval of the AEP data center tariff (24-0508-EL-ATA) as based on unreasonable assumptions. Still pending.Download
SB374 - Prohibit new data center sales tax exemptionsLegislationlegiscan.comIn committee Mar 25, 2026Description comingDownload
HB710 - Prohibit public support, limit construction of, new data centersLegislationlegiscan.comIn committee Feb 25, 2026Description comingDownload
HB646 - Create the Data Center Study CommissionLegislationlegiscan.comIn committee Jun 10, 2026Description comingDownload
HB999 - Prohibit property tax exemptions for data centersLegislationlegiscan.comIntroduced Sep 2, 2026Description comingDownload
HB957 - Prohibit new data center sales tax exemptions from being grantedLegislationlegiscan.comIn committee Jun 3, 2026Description comingDownload
SB381 - Require PUCO approval to connect data centers to electrical gridLegislationlegiscan.comIn committee Mar 25, 2026Description comingDownload

Site details

Operator: Not announced
County: Licking County, OH
Address: New Albany, OH
Stage: Planned

Capacity and size: not on file

Map

Photos

Renderinghttps://d1w4fch07f5e4w.cloudfront.net/containers/assets/social-share-image.jpg/af9eae95452e3b39fb68ae7f39beef07/social-share-image.jpg
Aerial imageryAerial imagery: USGS The National Map (public domain)
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An $8 billion Treasury break helped Meta’s tax rate hit 2%. Senators want data center tax answersFortune
The states with the fewest and most data centers, rankedBusiness Insider
Finns Are Seething After Google Illegally Toppled 250,000 Trees for a Data CenterMother Jones
Google offer to pay others to help data center powerArkansas Online
This bill would make data centers pay their own way for powerSalt Lake City Deseret News