Oregon, Ohio voters head to the polls tomorrow — and one of the most consequential local questions on the ballot could decide the future of a proposed 475-megawatt data center campus and the nearly $250 million in investment tied to it.

Issue 25 is a proposed charter amendment that would prohibit data centers drawing more than 25 megawatts of aggregate monthly demand or peak load in the city of Oregon.

At the center of the fight is Vantage Data Centers’ proposed three-building campus, which the company told a city committee would use roughly 475 megawatts — meaning a YES vote would effectively kill the project, while a NO vote would let it move forward.

Backers of a NO vote — including the district superintendent and the school board — point to the nearly $250 million in promised investment for the schools and the city that they say would come with the project.

Supporters of a YES vote, including the group United Neighbors of Oregon, argue voters should weigh that promise against the sheer size of the facility itself — 475 megawatts dwarfs the 25-megawatt threshold the amendment would allow.

The City of Oregon updated its data-center information website today, ahead of tomorrow’s vote, as both sides make their closing push.

Tomorrow settles it: a YES vote bans data centers of this scale in Oregon; a NO vote keeps the door open. Polls are open Tuesday — read the neutral ballot explainer here, or this balanced local breakdown from the Lake Erie Inquiry. (For the other side’s case: Vote No on 25 is the NO campaign’s advocacy site.)

Photo: Wikimedia Commons.