# Richland County, Ohio: Power, Data Centers and the Local Economy Home to Mansfield, Springfield Township and Madison Township Richland County is not a build-out site today. It feels the boom through the grid it shares, the utilities that serve it and the work nearby. Richland County is home to Mansfield, Springfield Township, Madison Township and Shelby. Next door, Huron County has 1 data center and 297 MW of planned generation. 5 MW has retired here since 2019, including Shelby Municipal Light Plant (petroleum, 3 MW, 2019). 14 MW of that came online in 2019 or later, mostly battery storage. Its power plants have 24 MW of capacity, 42% of it battery storage. 5 MW of generating capacity retired since 2019 24 MW of operating power plants, mostly battery storage -3.1% total jobs since 2019, now 48,532 ## Cities and towns in Richland County Richland County is home to Mansfield, Springfield Township, Madison Township and Shelby. Mansfield47,381 residents Springfield Township11,124 residents Madison Township11,118 residents Shelby9,231 residents Sharon Township8,948 residents Troy Township7,113 residents Ontario6,692 residents Washington Township6,607 residents Mifflin Township6,116 residents Jefferson Township4,986 residents Lexington4,848 residents Jackson Township3,680 residents Worthington Township2,987 residents Monroe Township2,733 residents Bellville2,013 residents Plymouth Township1,970 residents Weller Township1,874 residents Franklin Township1,716 residents Cass Township1,607 residents Perry Township1,459 residents Bloominggrove Township1,297 residents Butler Township1,193 residents Sandusky Township984 residents Butler929 residents And 3 smaller places. - Plymouth also extends into [Huron County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/ohio/huron-county). Unincorporated communities (governed by the county): Lincoln Heights, Roseland. Residents are 2025 Census estimates for the part of each city, town or township inside this county. Census publishes no annual estimate for unincorporated communities. ## What changed in Richland County | Measure | Then | Now | Change | Rank in Ohio | |---|---|---|---|---| | Population (2020 → 2025) | 124,969 | 124,893 | ▼ 0.1% | 23rd of 88 by size | | Total jobs (2019 → 2025) | 50,079 | 48,532 | ▼ 3.1% | 66th of 88 by growth | | Average annual pay (2019 → 2025) | $40,417 | $52,857 | ▲ 30.8% | — | | Power line construction jobs (2019 → 2025) | 37 | 48 | ▲ 29.7% | — | | Unemployment rate (2019 → August 2026) | 4.5% | 3.9% | ▼ 0.6pts | — | | Generating capacity added since 2019 | — | 14 MW | | — | | Generating capacity retired since 2019 | — | 5 MW | | — | Employers here counted 48,532 jobs in 2025, down 3.1% from 2019. Electrical contractors employ 182, at an average $60,764 a year. Unemployment was 3.9% in August 2026, against 4.5% in 2019. Ohio Power Co is the largest utility serving Richland County, one of 11 with territory here. Its residential customers paid an average 19.33¢/kWh in 2024, above the 15.40¢ median for Ohio utilities. 124,893 people live here, down 0.1% since 2020. ## Who powers Richland County ### Utilities with service territory in Richland County | Utility | Ownership | Service | Residential customers (systemwide) | Residential price, 2024 | Commercial share of sales | |---|---|---|---|---|---| | Ohio Power Co | Investor Owned | Bundled | 1,339,232 | 19.33¢ | 22% | | Ohio Edison Co | Investor Owned | Bundled | 957,780 | 16.18¢ | 18% | | Licking Rural Electric Inc | Cooperative | Bundled | 25,820 | 16.88¢ | 7% | | Consolidated Cooperative | Cooperative | Bundled | 16,897 | 16.11¢ | 24% | | North Central Elec Coop, Inc - (OH) | Cooperative | Bundled | 8,433 | 17.09¢ | 14% | | Firelands Electric Coop, Inc | — | — | — | — | — | | City of Galion | — | — | — | — | — | | Village of Lucas - (OH) | — | — | — | — | — | Customer counts, prices and sales shares cover each utility's whole system in the state, not only this county. Commercial sales include data centers. ### Operating power plants | Technology | Capacity | Share | |---|---|---| | Battery storage | 10 MW | 42% | | Petroleum | 7 MW | 30% | | Natural gas | 5 MW | 20% | | Solar | 2 MW | 8% | | Largest plants | Owner | Technology | MW | Since | |---|---|---|---|---| | Shelby BESS | Onsite Partners, LLC | Battery storage | 10 MW | 2025 | | Broshco Fabricated Products | Broshco Fabricated Products | Natural gas | 5 MW | 2001 | | Progress Drive Generation Station | City of Shelby - (OH) | Petroleum | 4 MW | 2016 | | Shelby Solar Array | Onsite Partners, LLC | Solar | 2 MW | 2019 | | Shelby North | American Mun Power-Ohio, Inc | Petroleum | 2 MW | 2000 | | Shelby South | City of Shelby - (OH) | Petroleum | 2 MW | 2000 | ### Retired since 2019 | Plant | Technology | MW | Year | |---|---|---|---| | Shelby Municipal Light Plant | Petroleum | 3 MW | 2019 | | City of Shelby Electric Distribution | Petroleum | 2 MW | 2019 | ## The Richland County labor market | Industry (2025) | Jobs | Average pay | Concentration vs U.S. | |---|---|---|---| | All industries | 48,532 | $52,857 | 1.00 | | Electrical contractors | 182 | $60,764 | 0.52 | | Power and communication line construction | 48 | $87,569 | 0.61 | Concentration is the BLS location quotient: 1.0 means the industry holds the same share of local jobs as it does nationally. Industry rows count private employers; cells BLS suppresses are left out. ## Data centers and local rules in Richland County No data center, local measure or delayed project is on record in Richland County. Ohio has 105 local measures on record statewide. ## Richland County and its neighbors Of the 5 counties that border Richland County, Huron County carries the most build-out activity: data centers, planned generation and operating plants combined. [[[[[ | County | Population | Jobs since 2019 | Operating MW | Planned MW | Data centers | Local measures | |---|---|---|---|---|---|---| | Richland County | 124,893 | ▼ 3.1% | 24 MW | — | — | — | | Ashland County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/ohio/ashland-county) | 52,523 | ▼ 3.5% | — | — | — | — | | Crawford County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/ohio/crawford-county) | 41,896 | ▼ 1.6% | 172 MW | — | — | — | | Huron County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/ohio/huron-county) | 58,250 | ▲ 0.1% | 6 MW | 297 MW | 1 | — | | Knox County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/ohio/knox-county) | 64,002 | ● 0.0% | — | — | — | — | | Morrow County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/ohio/morrow-county) | 36,305 | ▼ 2.5% | — | — | — | — | ## More of Ohio [All Ohio countiesThe state power page and county mapOpen →](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/ohio)[Knox County64,002 peopleOpen →](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/ohio/knox-county)[Huron County58,250 peopleOpen →](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/ohio/huron-county)[Ashland County52,523 peopleOpen →](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/ohio/ashland-county)[Crawford County41,896 peopleOpen →](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/ohio/crawford-county)[Morrow County36,305 peopleOpen →](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/ohio/morrow-county) ## Richland County, answered from the record ### Who provides electricity in Richland County, Ohio? 11 utilities have service territory in Richland County in the EIA-861 2024 report: Ohio Power Co, Ohio Edison Co, Licking Rural Electric Inc, Consolidated Cooperative. The largest, Ohio Power Co, charged residential customers 19.33¢/kWh on average in 2024. ### What county is Mansfield, OH in? Mansfield is in Richland County, Ohio. About 47,381 people live there (2025 Census estimate). ### What county is Springfield Township, OH in? Springfield Township is in Richland County, Ohio. About 11,124 people live there (2025 Census estimate). ### What county is Madison Township, OH in? Madison Township is in Richland County, Ohio. About 11,118 people live there (2025 Census estimate). ### What power plants are in Richland County? 6 operating plants with 24 MW of capacity. The largest is Shelby BESS (10 MW, battery storage). ### Are there data centers in Richland County? The SAVRN Data Center Map has no data center in Richland County. The nearest activity on record is next door in Huron County. ### Is Richland County adding jobs? Employers counted 48,532 jobs in 2025 against 50,079 in 2019 (-3.1%, BLS QCEW). ### Does Richland County have a data center moratorium? No county-level measure is on record for Richland County. Ohio has 105 local measures statewide, listed on the state page. --- Canonical: https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/ohio/richland-county Updated: 2026-10-08. Refreshed weekly by SAVRN from EIA, BLS, BEA, Census and the SAVRN trackers. License: CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).