Mercer County approves data center as conditional use after 4–1 vote; planning subcommittee to meet

The Mercer County Commission on April 1 approved a change to the county’s land-use code to list "Data Center" as a conditional use in the Industrial District (Chapter 3, Section IV). Commissioner Casey Voigt moved to approve the ordinance change; Commissioners Steve Guenthner, Gene Wolf and Chairman Rick Bauman voted aye and Commissioner Jamee Folk voted no. The motion carried 4–1.

Tax Director and Land Use Administrator Jennifer Neumiller presented the tied-vote item to the commission and Planning and Zoning Chairman Mike Eslinger gave a subcommittee update. Eslinger scheduled the subcommittee to reconvene on April 14, 2026 at 9:00 a.m. in the Mercer County Government Center board room in Stanton to continue work on the ordinance language and conditional-use criteria.

Representatives from Basin Electric and NextEra Energy Resources attended and provided an informational update on the River Run Energy Center and an associated data center, summarizing what county officials and the public heard at an open house held March 30 at the Stanton Civic Center. That presentation was informational; the commission took no direct action on the project itself during the meeting.

The ordinance approval affects the county’s industrial zoning rules by creating a path for future data center proposals to be reviewed as conditional uses; it does not approve any specific project. The commission will revisit implementation details and subcommittee recommendations at upcoming Planning and Zoning meetings.