Meta's Prometheus Data Center Nears Launch in New Albany, and Your Power Bill Is Part of the Story

New Albany is at the center of a data center boom that is reshaping the whole region. Meta is finishing its Prometheus data center off Beech Road in New Albany. It is set to be the world's first data center that needs more than one gigawatt of power. For scale, one gigawatt could power around 876,000 homes for a year.

Meta is not done buying land. The company recently picked up another 429 acres near the site in New Albany and Jersey Township, as reported by NBC4. That signals more building ahead. New Albany's business park already holds about 40 data centers, with many more planned or under construction.

The growth is huge for the region's economy. A new report says Columbus will become the second-largest data center hub in the Great Lakes region by 2030, behind only Chicago, as covered by WOSU. The study, from the University of Virginia's Weldon Cooper Center and the Joyce Foundation, counts more than 100 data centers already running in Ohio and 77 more planned by 2030. It projects about 22,300 short-term construction jobs and 4,500 permanent jobs, plus over $128 million in local tax revenue.

Here is what this means for you as a resident. First, the good news. All that construction work brings paychecks. Thousands of building trades workers are on these sites. Meta is even funding a five-week training bootcamp in Columbus that covers housing and airfare and comes with a job offer for those who finish. Steady jobs help housing demand across the northeast suburbs.

Now the catch. Data centers use enormous amounts of electricity. The report projects data center power use in Ohio will more than double, rising from 5.3% to 10.9% of the state's total energy use in just four years. That demand can push up utility rates for regular households. Related reporting notes the average customer could pay about $36 more each month by 2027 across electric, gas, and water. If you own or rent near New Albany, watch your utility bills closely. Higher fixed costs affect what buyers can afford to spend on a mortgage.

There is also a jobs reality check. Data centers create tons of construction jobs, but far fewer permanent ones. Once a center is running, it needs very few workers. So do not expect these buildings to fill nearby subdivisions with new full-time staff. The bigger housing driver in New Albany is still Intel's chip plant and the wider business park, not the data halls themselves.

What should you watch next? First, watch electricity rate cases before state regulators. Those decisions set how much of the data center power cost lands on households. Second, watch land sales near the business park. More Meta land buys mean more construction traffic and noise, which can affect nearby home values both ways. Third, watch New Albany's housing supply. If jobs grow faster than homes, prices climb.

If you are an investor thinking about buying near this jobs engine, the long-term demand story is strong. You can explore how to deploy capital into the neighborhoods feeding this growth. Just price in the risk that rising utility costs could squeeze renter budgets.

The takeaway. New Albany is winning big investment, and that supports home values across the north and northeast suburbs. But the same boom can raise your monthly bills. Track both sides. The jobs are real, and so are the costs.

Sources: NBC4, WOSU Public Media