2015年的新闻稿显示，布朗曾称赞俄亥俄州中部的数据中心发展，而如今他却将其称为被操纵的体系
2026年8月8日 美国东部时间8:30 / 福克斯新闻频道
作者：利奥·布里塞诺 福克斯新闻
参与讨论：保罗·吉戈特、金·斯特拉斯尔、阿利西亚·芬利和杰森·赖利
四人讨论了进步派对人工智能数据中心日益强烈的反弹情绪。伯尼·桑德斯和AOC以环保担忧、电价上涨以及潜在的工作岗位流失为由，提出了一项在全国范围内暂停新建数据中心的立法。嘉宾小组探讨了其经济影响，并指出没有明确证据表明数据中心直接推高了能源成本。
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据记录显示，前俄亥俄州民主党参议员谢罗德·布朗曾称赞数据中心扩张，而如今他正以反对数据中心发展的竞选纲领为筹码，争取重回参议院。
2015年，布朗发布新闻稿，庆祝俄亥俄州中部第三座数据中心的建成
“这座新数据中心对新奥尔巴尼和俄亥俄州中部来说是好消息。亚马逊在俄亥俄州中部的扩张表明，该地区不仅是经商的好地方，也是人们想要居住和养家的地方，”布朗说道。
而仅仅十年后的今天，布朗将俄亥俄州现有的226座数据中心描述为该州资源的消耗者——这一立场转变表明，许多民主党人已在该议题上达成共识，以推动负担得起的生活成本议题。
观看：共和党参议员在关键参议院对决中痛斥“华盛顿怪物”挑战者
“俄亥俄州的电网——大公司把它当成了一场游戏，”布朗在最近的竞选视频中说道。
“他们不顾一切推高我们的电价，也要攫取能源来运营他们的数据中心。这是他们操纵体系的最新手段。”
布朗于2006年首次当选美国参议员，2024年竞选连任时败给了俄亥俄州共和党参议员伯尼·莫雷诺。如今他正为俄亥俄州另一个参议院席位发起复出竞选，对手是现任参议员乔恩·赫斯特德。
赫斯特德尚未赢得参议院完整任期，他是由俄亥俄州州长迈克·德温任命填补前参议员J·D·万斯的空缺，后者被特朗普任命为副总统。
在2026年中期选举中，民主党一直在抨击唐纳德·特朗普总统及其所谓的未兑现承诺，即降低食品、燃料和住房等日常用品的成本。
尽管与这些具体议题略有不同，但包括布朗在内的越来越多的民主党人将数据中心与该议题挂钩，辩称数据中心几乎没有为自身的用水和用电成本买单。在他们看来，数据中心是由其所在社区补贴的。
福克斯新闻民调：民主党团结、共和党跨党派选民影响俄亥俄州参议院竞选
关于数据中心的能源消耗是否实质性改变了当地社区的公用事业费率，以及如果确实如此，企业是否应为其消耗的成本买单，各方仍存在争论。
布朗表示，他将支持相关立法。
“我将要求数据中心自行承担全部用电成本——而不是由你们纳税人承担，”布朗说道。
随着亚马逊和谷歌等公司寻求俄亥俄州的建设激励政策，俄亥俄州在数据中心议题上的重要性日益凸显。
2013年，俄亥俄州州议会通过了对“计算机数据中心设备的销售、存储、使用或其他消耗”的税收豁免法案。该法案赋予俄亥俄州税收信贷管理局（TCA）权力，可为连续三年投资超过1亿美元的企业批准税收豁免。并非所有数据中心都能自动符合该福利资格，部分中心可获得部分豁免。
据俄亥俄州2026-2027年税收支出报告显示，这一举措吸引了大量投资，但也在2025年使该州损失了16亿美元的潜在税收收入。
目前尚不清楚布朗是否仅支持要求数据中心支付用电成本，以及他是否会考虑其他立法来放缓数据中心的发展。在2015年的新闻稿中，布朗指出数据中心的落成创造了新的就业机会。
顶级能源集团警告：富裕外国人可能在资助全美反数据中心运动
“我期待着共同努力，确保我们地区不断发展的物流枢纽继续壮大——为俄亥俄州民众创造优质工作岗位，助力企业繁荣发展，”布朗写道。
布朗的办公室未回应福克斯新闻数字频道就其反对俄亥俄州数据中心发展的反对范围提出的置评请求。
点击此处下载福克斯新闻APP
在获得该席位的民主党提名后，布朗将在11月3日的全州大选中对阵赫斯特德。
利奥·布里塞诺是福克斯新闻数字频道国会团队的政治记者，此前曾供职于《世界杂志》。
Dem Senate hopeful flip-flops on emerging issue impacting communities across US
A 2015 press release shows Brown celebrating the same Central Ohio datacenter growth he calls a rigged system today
August 8, 2026 8:30am EDT / Fox News
By Leo Briceno Fox News
Paul Gigot, Kim Strassel, Allyssia Finley, and Jason Riley discuss the growing progressive backlash against AI data centers. Citing environmental concerns, increased electricity prices, and potential job displacement, Bernie Sanders and AOC introduced legislation for a nationwide moratorium on new data center construction. The panel explores the economic implications and highlights the lack of clear evidence supporting claims of rising energy costs directly tied to data centers.
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Former Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, once praised data center expansion, records show, even as he now runs on a platform opposing their development in a bid to return to the Senate.
In 2015, Brown put out a press release celebrating the construction of a third data center in Central Ohio
“This new data center is great news for New Albany and central Ohio. Amazon’s growth in central Ohio signals that this region is not only a great place to do business, but a place where people want to live and raise a family,” Brown said.
Now, just over 10 years later, Brown is painting Ohio’s 226 data centers as a drain on the state’s resources — a reversal that demonstrates how many Democrats have aligned themselves on the issue to press the case for affordability.
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Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, is seen during senate votes in the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday, January 23, 2024.(Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
“Ohio’s electric grid — big corporations treat it like a game,” Brown said in a recent campaign video.
“[They’re] gobbling up energy to feed their data centers no matter how much it raises our prices. It’s the latest way they’ve rigged the system.”
Brown, who was originally elected to the U.S. Senate in 2006, lost re-election in 2024 to Sen. Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio. Now he is waging a comeback bid for Ohio’s other Senate seat against incumbent Sen. Jon Husted.
Husted, who has not yet won a full term in the Senate, was appointed by Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine to fill the seat of now-former Sen. J.D. Vance, R-Ohio, when Trump tapped him to become vice president.
In the 2026 midterms, Democrats have hammered President Donald Trump and what they see as unfulfilled promises to bring down the cost of everyday items like food, fuel and housing.
While slightly removed from those specific items, an increasing number of Democrats, like Brown, have tied data centers to the issue, arguing that they do little to pay for their own costs in terms of water and electrical use. In their view, data centers are being subsidized by the communities where they’re being built.
FOX NEWS POLL: DEMOCRATIC UNITY, REPUBLICAN CROSSOVERS SHAPE OHIO SENATE RACE
Democratic senate candidate, U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, addresses volunteers at a campaign office on Nov. 4, 2024 in Cleveland Heights, Ohio.(Stephen Maturen/Getty Images)
Debates remain about whether their consumption has meaningfully changed utility rates in local communities and, if so, whether the companies should pay for the costs of their consumption.
Brown said he would support legislation along those lines.
“I’ll require the data centers to pay the full cost of their own electricity — not you,” Brown said.
Ohio, in particular, has become an increasingly important state in the data center conversation as companies like Amazon and Google have sought out state incentives for their construction.
In 2013, the state legislature passed tax exemptions for the “sale, storage, use or other consumption of computer data center equipment.” The law gives the Ohio Tax Credit Authority (TCA) the power to approve tax exemptions for companies that invest more than $100 million over three consecutive years. Not all centers are automatically qualified to participate in the benefit and can receive a partial exemption.
The move has attracted sizable investment but also cost the state $1.6 billion in forgone revenue in 2025, according to the Ohio 2026-2027 Tax Expenditure Report.
It’s unclear if Brown would support more than just a requirement that data centers pay for their electricity and whether he would consider other legislation to slow their development. In his 2015 press release, Brown noted that the centers had created new job opportunities with their openings.
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Senator Sherrod Brown, a Democrat from Ohio, during a campaign event at the Steubenville City Building in Steubenville, Ohio, US, on Friday, Oct. 11, 2024.(Justin Merriman/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
“I look forward to working to ensure that our region’s burgeoning logistics hub continues to grow – creating good jobs for Ohioans and helping businesses prosper,” Brown wrote.
His office did not respond to requests for comment from Fox News Digital about the scope of his objections to data center developments in Ohio.
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Having secured his party’s nomination for the seat, Brown will face Husted in the state’s Nov. 3 general election.
Leo Briceno is a politics reporter for the congressional team at Fox News Digital. He was previously a reporter with World Magazine.