Attendees included residents from Yellow Creek and Saline townships and Wellsvile, the Yellow Creek Township trustees, union representatives and business owners from Zuharis, Tony and Arastu Sharmar, who are planning to build the data center currently being called Project Astralus.

According to Arastu, the data center, projected to be operational in the third quarter of 2027, will be located on 510 acres located near 16 School Road and 18 Street Heights, with its own exit off state Route 7.

The estimated timeline for the construction is during Summer 2026. The company will do entitlement submissions, make data center equipment orders, and land preparation.

During Fall 2026, plans include entitlement approval, data center design completion, and the start of construction. Summer of 2027 will be when the installation of the power plant takes place along with connectivity and 500 MW shell completion. In the Fall 2027, chip installation will take place in the data center with load testing and commissioning the data center along with the construction of an additional 500 MW.

Tony Sharma, owner of Zuharis, the company that plans to build a power plant and data center to be known as Project Astralus in Yellow Creek Township, shows an outline on Google Maps indicating the location of the more than 500 acres the power plant and data center will be built on. (Photo by Kristi R. Garabrandt)

Sharma said that the construction and operation of the data center and power plant will result in thousands of new jobs with the employment of 6,500 people during peak construction over the course of 36 months; 450 to 490 people hired for a 36-month period for construction supervision/quality control; 300 to 500 permanent power plant employees and 2,000 to 5,000 permanent IT campus operations (data center) employees.

Sharma said the 6,500 employees hired for construction will be skilled tradespeople from local unions such as IBEW, UA, IUOE and more. He noted that permanent employees can have long-term careers with the powerplant and data center campus having a projected lifespan of 30 to 50 years and that every job would support several more people nearby in housing, services and local businesses.

Several union representatives present at the meeting spoke in favor of the power plant because of the jobs it would provide.

When discussing the tax and fiscal impacts on the community, Sharma noted that he is okay with Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine’s recent decision to pause tax breaks to new data centers.

“This is one of the largest investments the region has seen, and the money stays local for the long haul,” Sharma said. “Through a long-term tax agreement, the county gets dependable annual funding, not a one-time bump. That revenue supports local schools, services and infrastructure for the life of the project. These contributions are built to last 30 to 50 years.”

Kevin Brown, Local IBEW (International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers), Steubenville, speaks out in favor of the data center and power plant and the jobs the owners say it will bring to Yellow Creek Township. (Photo by Kristi R. Garabrandt)

Sharma said the estimated annual tax value for the county, school district and township would be $50 million to $90 million a year in property tax from the power plant and $30 million to $60 million a year in property tax from the data center. The Ohio General Fund would receive an estimated $60 million to $120 million yearly for state income/payroll tax, and Eastern Ohio mineral rights owners would see $5 million to $15 million annually in natural gas severance/royalties.

He then said over 30 years the totals would be an estimated $740 million to $1.2 billion in property tax revenue; $1 billion to $1.3 billion in state income/payroll tax; $400 million to $700 million in construction phase local spending and a total private investment of $3.5 billion to $4.5 billion.

Sharma addressed residents’ concerns over their electric costs increasing and said that the data center would be providing its own power through the power plant being constructed for that and they will not be connecting into the power grid so it will not affect what they pay for electricity.

Sharma also said they will be responsible in their water usage and be using their own water intake from the Ohio River for their water supply, and he estimates the power plant will only be using approximately 15% of the allotted daily water intake. He also noted they have partnered with Buckeye Water District for the river intake. The water they use will be reused in the plant and not wasted, and the company is meeting every standard set by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

When addressing the issue raised by many residents over the potential noise a data center and power could make, Tony Sharma said it would mostly be located near the Columbiana/Jefferson County line, and he is not aware of too many residences along the county line. He also noted that the 510 acres are surrounded by trees which will provide a noise buffer and the buildings would be built to contain the noise.

Tony Sharma, owner of Zuharis, the company that plans to build a power plant and data center to be known as Project Astralus in Yellow Creek Township, answers questions about the power plant and data center during a public meeting held Thursday. (Photo by Kristi R. Garabrandt)

One resident suggested a silencing wall be built around the property.

Sharma said the noise would be equivalent to the noise made by a vacuum cleaner, and the buildings are far enough from residences they should not hear it and that 10 acres of land will be a buffer from the noise.

The attendees responded with an uproar when Tony Sharma said he had obtained permission to remove a cemetery on the property. He noted that he has owned the land for 15 years and has not done anything with the cemetery, which he believes to be about four graves possibly from the Civil War and has no plans to move it.

When residents asked about damage to township roads from large vehicles coming through for construction, Sharma said the roads would be taken care of and they could pay for the widening of some of the roads if needed.

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Arastu Sharma, chief marketing officer for Zuharis speaks to nearly 100 people at Highlandtown Volunteer Fire Department on the data center and power plant he and his father plan to build in Yellow Creek Township. (Photo by Kristi R. Garabrandt)

One resident who used to live in Los Lomas, New Mexico, expressed her concerns over damage to land and property. She said the data centers in New Mexico have caused parts of the Rio Grande River to run dry and have resulted in a lot of dry barren land with contaminated water.

Sharma said the power plant and water usage would be a closed loop with no contaminated water going back into the water supply or the ground and no power being drawn from the grid. He also noted that New Mexico is a hot, dry climate where data centers are using water for cooling and that isn’t the case in Ohio which has a cooler climate, and the need for cooling would be for maybe three months out of the year.

Sharma noted that the data center would be an AI learning center.

One resident asked if the plant would affect their property values and property tax. Sharma said he did not see why it would.

Another resident asked if they were going to be buying properties around what they already own, and Sharma said it would be better for him if he could because then there would not be the issue of noise, and he would be willing to buy surrounding properties.

After the meeting many residents still had concerns and were not in favor of the facility being built but realized that it was going to happen anyways.

kgarabrandt@gmail.com