---
title: "Ohio voters repealed an EdgeConneX data-center deal 81.65% to 18.35%; Waterplan sells the water-risk map"
description: "Ashville, Ohio repealed an EdgeConneX data-center framework by 81.65%, and Texas's governor-elect wants water contracts with data centers voided. Waterplan, a startup whose named customers include AWS and Meta, pitches AI site selection on November 18."
publisher: "The Inference"
section: "Data Center"
published: 2026-11-08T04:26:23.588Z
modified: 2026-11-08T04:26:23.588Z
canonical: https://theinference.org/article/ohio-voters-repealed-an-edgeconnex-data-center-deal-81-65-to-18-35-waterplan-sells-the-water-risk-map
language: en
keywords: "Data Centers, Water Risk, Site Selection, Ohio, Texas"
---

# Ohio voters repealed an EdgeConneX data-center deal 81.65% to 18.35%; Waterplan sells the water-risk map

> Ashville, Ohio repealed an EdgeConneX data-center framework by 81.65%, and Texas's governor-elect wants water contracts with data centers voided. Waterplan, a startup whose named customers include AWS and Meta, pitches AI site selection on November 18.

On November 3, voters in Ashville, Ohio repealed Resolution 06-2026, the village's development framework for an EdgeConneX data-center campus, by 81.65% to 18.35%, or [1,468 votes to 330](https://www.sciotopost.com/ashville-voters-overwhelmingly-reject-edgeconnex-data-center-deal-in-landslide-referendum/) [1]. The proposal carried a price above $100 million: two data-center buildings and an on-site natural-gas power plant on roughly 195 acres [1].

Advocates with Pickaway Strong collected 669 verified signatures to force the vote after council passed the deal under an emergency clause, and the Ohio Supreme Court ordered it onto the ballot on August 7 [1]. A $3.5 million EdgeConneX donation to village parks and sewers, announced weeks before election day, did not change the outcome [1].

## An Ohio village repealed an EdgeConneX deal, 81.65% to 18.35%

Ashville was not alone. Five more Ohio communities approved data-center restrictions the same night, and [Grove City's amendment now requires a public vote](https://www.securities.io/ohio-voters-back-data-center-limits-and-reject-edgeconnex-agreement/) before any project covering 50 contiguous acres, 20 megawatts of peak demand, or 500,000 gallons of water a day [2]. Pataskala banned new construction outright above 25 megawatts [2].

## Water use has moved onto the ballot

In Texas, governor-elect Gina Hinojosa wants [an immediate moratorium](https://theinference.org/article/democrats-won-texas-on-a-data-center-pause-vistra-fell-as-much-as-15-5-and-coreweave-s-bonds-hit-79-5-cents) and a law making any water contract with a data center unenforceable where it threatens a community's supply [3]. She inherits a freeze already running: Governor Greg Abbott halted new permits from the state's environmental agency in September, [pending an audit of grid applications](https://www.datacenterdynamics.com/en/news/texas-governor-elect-gina-hinojosa-promises-continued-data-center-moratorium-further-legislation/) by ERCOT, the state grid operator, which expects the review to end in December [3].

Texas holds [25% of planned US data-center capacity](https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/texas-data-centers-face-uncertain-future-after-hinojosa-wins-governor-s-race/ar-AA2gLJTL) on a [Goldman Sachs](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/goldman-sachs) estimate, and ERCOT is tracking more than 400 gigawatts of connection requests [4]. In exit polls, 56% of voters called AI data centers a crucial or major factor in their congressional vote [3]. This month, water use moved from annual sustainability reports onto ballots, as a threshold that can stop a project before it starts.

## The startup selling the site map

[Waterplan](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/waterplan), legally Climateplan Inc. of San Francisco, sells software that measures water risk site by site [5][7].

Founded by José Ignacio Galindo, Nicolas Wertheimer and Matias Comercio [5], it has raised $18.5 million, including [an $11 million Series A led by Base10 Partners in May 2023](https://finance.yahoo.com/news/waterplan-announces-11-million-series-100000275.html) [6]. Named customers include [AWS](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/amazon), [Meta](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/meta), Danone, [Colgate-Palmolive](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/colgate-palmolive), AB InBev and Kurita, and the disclosure nonprofit CDP puts potential private-sector losses from water risk above $300 billion [6][8].

The pitch now is siting: the company lists a Site Screening product, publishes [an EdgeConneX case study titled Building Water-Resilient Data Centers](https://www.waterplan.com/case-studies), and on November 18 hosts a webinar, AI for Data Center Site Selection [7][8]. One named customer shows the scale now pressing against these voter gates: Amazon's [quarterly capital spending reached $75.9 billion in Q3 2026](https://www.sec.gov/cgi-bin/browse-edgar?action=getcompany&CIK=0001018724), more than four times the $16.4 billion of Q2 2024 [9].

*Chart: **Amazon's quarterly capex more than quadrupled in ten quarters** Line chart of Amazon's quarterly capital expenditure from Q2 2024 to Q3 2026, rising from $16.4 billion to $75.9 billion*

*Quarterly capital expenditure in USD billions, from Amazon's SEC filings, retrieved November 8, 2026. [9]*

## What could still break the arc

Two limits. EdgeConneX says [Ashville construction is already underway with permits secured](https://finance.yahoo.com/technology/articles/voters-data-center-rebuke-hits-005247889.html), so the referendum may not remove a single server rack [10]. And Waterplan's data-center business so far rests on its own site and webinar schedule; no third party confirms a dollar of it.

Markets priced the gate anyway. [Modine](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/modine), which makes data-center cooling, and Sterling Infrastructure, which handles site preparation, each fell about 21% on November 4 while the big cloud companies rose [10]. Meta, which spent about $110 million on land in Piqua, [watched that town ban large centers and recall the commissioners who backed it](https://theinference.org/article/meta-s-ohio-data-center-faces-tuesday-s-vote-with-90-5-of-10-202-hearing-comments-against) [10]. Watch the ERCOT review due to end in December [3] and the November 18 webinar [7]. If Texas writes the water-contract clause into law, a site's water data moves to the start of every siting decision in the state.

## Takeaway

Data-center water use has moved from sustainability reports onto ballots and permit freezes, and Waterplan is pitching AI site selection into the gap with no third party yet confirming the business.

## Sources

1. [Scioto Post, Ashville Voters Overwhelmingly Reject EdgeConneX Data Center Deal in Landslide Referendum, 3 November 2026](https://www.sciotopost.com/ashville-voters-overwhelmingly-reject-edgeconnex-data-center-deal-in-landslide-referendum/)
2. [Securities.io, Ohio Voters Back Data Center Limits and Reject EdgeConneX Agreement, 4 November 2026](https://www.securities.io/ohio-voters-back-data-center-limits-and-reject-edgeconnex-agreement/)
3. [DatacenterDynamics, Texas governor-elect Gina Hinojosa promises continued data center moratorium, further legislation, 5 November 2026](https://www.datacenterdynamics.com/en/news/texas-governor-elect-gina-hinojosa-promises-continued-data-center-moratorium-further-legislation/)
4. [Reuters (via MSN), Texas data centers face uncertain future after Hinojosa wins governor's race, 4 November 2026](https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/texas-data-centers-face-uncertain-future-after-hinojosa-wins-governor-s-race/ar-AA2gLJTL)
5. [Sustainability Magazine, Waterplan: Water at the Centre of Corporate Sustainability, 6 November 2026](https://sustainabilitymag.com/news/waterplan-water-at-the-centre-of-corporate-sustainability)
6. [Waterplan press release via Yahoo Finance/GlobeNewswire, Waterplan Announces $11 Million in Series A Financing Round, 23 May 2023](https://finance.yahoo.com/news/waterplan-announces-11-million-series-100000275.html)
7. [Waterplan homepage (Site Screening product, AI for Data Center Site Selection webinar, 18 November 2026, Climateplan Inc.), retrieved 8 November 2026](https://www.waterplan.com/)
8. [Waterplan case studies (EdgeConneX & Waterplan: Building Water-Resilient Data Centers; Colgate-Palmolive), retrieved 8 November 2026](https://www.waterplan.com/case-studies)
9. [Amazon, quarterly capital expenditure from its SEC filings, retrieved 8 November 2026](https://www.sec.gov/cgi-bin/browse-edgar?action=getcompany&CIK=0001018724)
10. [Semafor via Yahoo Finance, Voters' data center rebuke hits some tech companies harder than others, 4 November 2026](https://finance.yahoo.com/technology/articles/voters-data-center-rebuke-hits-005247889.html)


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Ohio voters repealed an EdgeConneX data-center deal 81.65% to 18.35%; Waterplan sells the water-risk map — The Inference. Canonical: https://theinference.org/article/ohio-voters-repealed-an-edgeconnex-data-center-deal-81-65-to-18-35-waterplan-sells-the-water-risk-map