Ohio & Mahoning Valley - Communities across the country are seeing a surge of interest from companies looking to build data centers, and local governments have been weighing how those projects could affect their towns.

In the Mahoning Valley, Lordstown is the latest municipality to take action. Village leaders have approved a six month moratorium that halts permits for proposed data centers. The pause is intended to give officials time to review existing rules and consider whether changes are needed.

Sean O'Leary, a senior researcher and author with the Ohio River Valley Institute, said Lordstown is not alone. He said many communities are already responding to the rapid growth of data centers in a variety of ways.

"There are a number of communities, particularly in Pennsylvania, that are pursuing or in some cases have adopted new zoning regulations. There are a couple of moratoriums out there, but there are a variety of ways in which communities are trying to cope with the implications of data centers," O'Leary said.

O'Leary stated large scale data center development has been underway for years in places like Northern Virginia. However, he said the push has accelerated more quickly in Ohio and western Pennsylvania as companies apply lessons learned from other regions of the country.

In Lordstown, council members are expected to review the village's planning and zoning regulations and determine whether updates are needed before any future data center projects move forward.