Data center and AI infrastructure teams in Columbus, Ohio

Cushman & Wakefield classes Columbus as a primary market. It counted 3,488 MW in operation and 2,043 MW under construction in H1 2026, after the pipeline grew “from 1.2GW to 2.0GW during the first half of 2026” (Americas Data Center Update H1 2026, September 14, 2026). JLL names Ohio, with Louisiana, Indiana and the Carolinas, among the frontier markets that have “benefited significantly” (North America Data Center Report Midyear 2026, August 11, 2026).

New Albany is where the work concentrates. The New Albany-Gahanna Beacon reports that “40 data centers have opened in the International Business Park since 2010” and “28 more are on the drawing board or under construction” (August 13, 2026). The Beacon’s article of August 13, 2026, also reports that the city had 10.17 million sq ft of commercial space under construction in June 2026.

WOSU reported on January 19, 2026, that Meta “is wrapping up construction on its Prometheus data center in New Albany”, which it calls the “world’s first data center requiring over 1 gigawatt of power”. The Beacon, citing ABC 6, reports that Google’s New Albany site “draws 250 megawatts of electricity” (August 13, 2026).

Land buying has spread beyond New Albany. Cushman & Wakefield records Meta buying 132 acres in Johnstown for $52.8M in January 2026, AWS 37.6 acres in Galena for $3.7M in February 2026 and EdgeConneX 195 acres in Ashville in April 2026 (Americas Data Center Update H1 2026, September 14, 2026).

AEP Ohio, as reported by POWER Magazine, says central Ohio data center load has “grown from 100 MW in 2020 to around 600 MW in 2024” and projects it will “reach 5 GW in Central Ohio by 2030” (July 10, 2025).

AEP had “imposed a moratorium on new data center service agreements in Central Ohio” in March 2023. In its final order on July 9, 2025, the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO) approved AEP Ohio’s tariff for new customers “with loads above 25 MW” (POWER Magazine, July 10, 2025). Under the tariff, those customers must pay for at least 85% of their subscribed monthly capacity for up to 12 years, POWER Magazine reported on July 10, 2025.

Operators are also generating power on site. Cushman & Wakefield says Columbus “is leading the nation in the deployment of on-site generation” and calls Ohio “a national test case for large-scale behind-the-meter (BTM) power deployment”. Its Americas Data Center Update H1 2026 (September 14, 2026) cites EdgeConneX’s proposed 430 MW generation facility.

On May 27, 2026, Gov. DeWine announced a pause on new data center tax exemption requests while the General Assembly’s Joint Data Center Committee studies the issue (Spectrum News 1, May 27, 2026). It is not a ban, and existing exemptions stand. Locally, Jerome Township became the first Ohio local government to impose a data center moratorium, in September 2025 (New Albany-Gahanna Beacon, August 13, 2026).

AWS lists Construction Managers in New Albany and Plain City, and Meta a Campus Construction Manager, Data Center in New Albany, each with a published base salary range in the table below (employer careers sites, read October 11, 2026).

Power is a hiring theme of its own here. AWS is advertising a Power Generation Infrastructure Engineer in Columbus and a Cleared Data Center Electrical Field Engineer in Plain City, and Meta a Generator Subject Matter Expert for data center operations in New Albany (employer careers sites, read October 11, 2026). These roles match the on-site generation Cushman & Wakefield describes.

Commissioning runs through the same campuses. AWS lists a Retro Commissioning Engineer Lead in Columbus, and Microsoft lists a Commissioning Manager, a Senior Construction Project Manager and an Integration and Technical Infrastructure Manager in Columbus (employer careers sites, read October 11, 2026). Microsoft’s published ranges are US-wide, so its roles are not in the local table.

Columbus State Community College runs a Data Center Technician Certificate in partnership with AWS, and says central Ohio “is home to more than 50 data centers” (Columbus State Community College, read October 11, 2026).