Google to pour an additional $2.3 billion investment in central Ohio

Google is pouring another $2.3 billion into its three data center sites in central Ohio.

The tech giant announced the investments Tuesday morning at its data center on the city’s Far South Side that was once the home of the historic Hartman Farm where construction continues.

The investment is in addition to the $4.4 billion that Google has spent in central Ohio since its first investment in 2019 in New Albany. Google also has data centers in Lancaster in central Ohio.

Google’s data centers run its services such as search, Gmail, maps, cloud, and YouTube for users around the world.

“Data centers are the backbone of many of the services we provide for our customers at Google,” said Jim Anderson, Google Cloud’s vice president of North America Partner Ecosystem and Channels, who announced the investment Tuesday at a ceremony that drew state and local government officials and business leaders.

“In many ways data centers are the engine around the digital economy,” he said.

Customers of the data center off of Rathmell Road that opened in 2022 include some of the best known companies based in Columbus: Nationwide, Huntington Bancshares, Victoria’s Secret and Wendy’s along with the state of Ohio, he said.

Google didn’t say exactly how the investments will be made or how they will be divvied up among the data center operations in central Ohio, but the cranes at the South Side show construction is continuing there.

Tuesday’s announcement was the latest in what has been a string of billion-dollar plus data center announcements in central Ohio over the past year, including Microsoft’s potential $3 billion investment in Hebron where the tech company may build up to six data centers.

Amazon has announced a $7.8 billion expansion of its data center operations in Columbus, including a potential site in Pickaway County where it has purchased 234 acres.

The surge in data centers here has pushed up demand for electricity that has AEP Ohio asked for a special rate for data center companies.

A year ago, Google struck a partnership with EDP Renewables North America to create a 500-megawatt solar energy portfolio with projects that Google says will be located mostly in Ohio. Dispatch