Thursday, May 15, 2026
Est. 2026 · Independent
Tracking data center opposition across all 50 states. 1,100+ community reports and counting.
Breaking — May 15, 2026
Utah just approved a data center 2.5× the size of Manhattan — 40,000 acres, 9 GW, backed by Kevin O’Leary. Residents are fighting a referendum. In Florida, SB 484 is now law — DeSantis signed it May 7 in Lakeland. The NAACP is suing xAI for illegal air pollution from 33 unpermitted gas turbines powering its Memphis data centers. Meta broke ground on a $27 billion facility in rural Louisiana. Nationwide: 79 rejections in the first four months of 2026 — already surpassing all of 2025.
The Story So Far

Florida is about to host some of the largest AI data centers in America. Most residents find out four days before the vote.

In Fort Meade, a city of 5,300 in Polk County, commissioners unanimously approved a $2.6 billion data center on April 15, 2026 — a 4.4 million-square-foot complex on former phosphate land. In Palm Beach County, a 202-acre campus called Project Tango is moving through zoning review near the Arden community, 1.8 miles from the Lion Country Safari park recently purchased by Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison. In St. Lucie County, a $13.5 billion proposal for 15 million square feet of data center space was withdrawn in February after local pushback and pending state legislation. Similar proposals are emerging in Okeechobee, Martin, Citrus, Nassau, and Osceola counties — often with names most residents never hear until it's too late to weigh in.

8counties
With active or proposed hyperscale projects
$20B+
In announced private capital investment
38Msq ft
Total proposed data center floor space
1.2gigawatts
Power needed for Fort Meade alone — enough for 500,000 homes
Statewide Risk Map

How risky is your county?

All 67 Florida counties, shaded by data center development risk. The darker the county, the more structurally attractive it is to hyperscale developers — based on power availability, water capacity, land availability, and proximity to existing projects.

The seven marked counties have active, approved, or recently-withdrawn projects. One additional marker shows a facility already under construction. Click any county to see its risk score and read the full report.

Risk Tier
Very High
High
Moderate
Low
Active Projects
Approved
Vote Delayed
Proposed
Withdrawn
Nationwide Data
Community Reports (1,100+)
Verified Projects (150+)
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What You Can Do Right Now

We send an opposition letter to your commissioners for you.

Okeechobee's data center is dead — killed after 3,000 residents pushed back. Fort Meade's approval is being challenged by the state. Written opposition works.

Enter your address and pick your concerns. We research your commissioners, write a personalized letter citing state statutes and project data, and email it to every commissioner on your behalf.

Take Action Now 1,143 letters sent
60 seconds. Works in any state. Letter sent within 24 hours.
Sample Letter Preview
To: Commissioner Maria Sachs, Commissioner Gregg Weiss, Commissioner Sara Baxter
From: Jane Smith via Florida Data Centers
Subject: Opposition to Proposed Data Center — Palm Beach County

Dear Commissioners,

My name is Jane Smith and I reside at 4521 Arden Way, Loxahatchee, FL 33470 — within 2.3 miles of the proposed Central Park Commerce Center (Project Tango) site.

I am writing to formally oppose the rezoning application for 202 acres of data center development adjacent to FPL's West County Energy Center. My concerns include the impact on residential property values, groundwater supply, and noise from industrial cooling systems operating 24/7.

Under Florida SB 484, which takes effect July 1, 2026, utilities are prohibited from shifting data center infrastructure costs onto residential ratepayers. Additionally, under Florida's Sunshine Law (Chapter 286) and Public Records Act (Chapter 119)...

See full letter →
National Data Center News
Maine
Statewide moratorium vetoed — override vote falls just short
Bipartisan supermajority passed LD 307. Gov. Mills vetoed. Override failed by a handful of votes.
Wisconsin
Regulators approve new data center tariff — full cost of service required
We Energies customers must fund all generation and grid infrastructure. Port Washington referendum wins 2:1.
New Jersey
Kenilworth residents show up with cowbells to fight data center 17 mi from NYC
Community packed council meeting with whistles and noise. Suburban NJ rebellion grows.
Florida
SB 484 signed into law — data centers must pay full cost of service
DeSantis signed May 7 in Lakeland. Effective July 1. NDA loophole remains. Project Tango vote delayed to July 15.
All 50 States →
Deeper Analysis

Want your county's full risk report?

The map above shows the tier. The full report shows the breakdown: power availability, water capacity, land availability, and current exposure to known projects — each scored and explained in plain English for your specific county.

Find your county's full report
How counties score
Power availability 30
Current exposure 40
Water capacity 15
Land availability 15
By County

Every known data center proposal in Florida.

Updated weekly
Palm Beach County
South Florida · Pop. 1.5M
Home to Project Tango, the proposed 3.7M-sq-ft campus near Loxahatchee that sits 1.8 miles from Lion Country Safari. The applicant requested a postponement of the final vote to July 15, 2026 — the third delay — amid mounting community opposition and pending state legislation.
Full Palm Beach coverage
Central Park Commerce Center (Project Tango)
Vote Delayed
202 acres 3.7M sq ft 11 data center buildings, up to 75 ft tall Loxahatchee, near Arden
Developer PBA Holdings is seeking approval for 1.79 million sq ft of data storage plus 1.9 million sq ft of warehouse. The end user is shielded from public records under a 2017 Florida statute that allows developers to keep operator identity confidential. The site sits adjacent to FPL's West County Energy Center — a 3,750-megawatt natural gas plant that can power 750,000 homes. Residents of Arden, a 2,300-home community with a new elementary school on former Palm Beach Aggregates land, say they learned of the proposal four days before the zoning hearing.
Polk County
Central Florida · Pop. 805K
Fort Meade — population 5,300 — is on track to host Florida's first operating hyperscale data center. City commissioners approved the developer agreement unanimously on April 15, 2026, despite 40 of 41 public commenters speaking against it.
Full Polk coverage
Fort Meade Data Center Campus
Approved · Permits Pending
1,300 acres 4.4M sq ft potential buildout $2.6B investment 1.2 GW power needed Former phosphate mine, west of US-98
Developer Stonebridge (Maryland-based) has secured a 20-year development agreement, rezoning, and a $150M / 10-year tax break. The project still requires a water-use permit from the Southwest Florida Water Management District, which recently changed its policy for data centers — the board will vote on Stonebridge's water application at a public meeting. Powered by Duke Energy's Hines Complex. The operator tenant remains unidentified. Groundbreaking targeted end of 2026; operations by 2028. The city said commitments from Stonebridge include $10 million toward local infrastructure and roughly 450 permanent jobs averaging $107,000/year.
St. Lucie County
Treasure Coast · Pop. 355K
Site of two high-profile proposals near Fort Pierce. The largest — Sentinel Grove / Project Jarvis — was withdrawn in February 2026 pending new state legislation. A second, Atlas Compute, is in early planning.
Full St. Lucie coverage
Sentinel Grove Technology Park (Project Jarvis)
Withdrawn Feb 2026
1,218 acres 15M sq ft total buildout $13.5B projected investment Minute Maid Rd & Orange Ave, Fort Pierce
Proposed on former citrus grove land owned by Epic Estates 68 LLC, a Tallahassee-based land-banking firm that purchased the 1,218 acres for $15 million in July 2024. The St. Lucie County Planning and Zoning Commission voted 4–2 against recommending the comprehensive plan amendment in late 2025. Developers voluntarily withdrew the land-use application on February 26, 2026, citing advancing state legislation. The site remains agricultural. Developers are monitoring Florida SB 484 and related bills before deciding whether to refile.
Atlas Compute AI Data Center Campus
Early Planning
240 MW initial capacity Up to 1 GW potential Midway Industrial Park, Fort Pierce
Miami-based Atlas Compute has obtained zoning verification for a closed-loop, water-free cooling data center built in partnership with Penguin Solutions, specifically engineered for NVIDIA GPU workloads. No formal development application had been submitted as of early 2026. Target: operational 2027.
Okeechobee County
Heartland · Pop. 41K
The Okee-One data center is dead. The state accused IRSC of “falsehoods and pretenses about energy and water,” clawed back its $1.5M grant, and county commissioners struck the comp plan framework that would have enabled future data centers. A 3,000-signature petition in a town of 5,500 worked.
Full Okeechobee coverage
Okee-One Data Campus
Canceled April 2026
205 acres 9–10 MW initial (≈5% of Project Tango) Off Highway 441, near Okeechobee $1.5M state grant
Indian River State College envisions the campus as a data center and technical-workforce training site connected to programs in technology, cybersecurity, electrical systems, welding and HVAC. The project received a $1.5 million state grant under Gov. DeSantis. Residents at the April 2026 Okeechobee County Board of Commissioners meeting pressed the question "What's in it for us?" — raising concerns about expansion plans, electrical load and environmental impact. The site's history as a reform school where children faced physical abuse from state employees has added to the emotional weight of the debate.
Martin County
Treasure Coast · Pop. 164K
Two proposals are converging in Indiantown: Silver Fox, a 606-acre hyperscale data center, and the Tesoro Groves PUD — a 5,722-acre FPL rezoning that explicitly permits data center uses. The Village Council advanced the PUD on April 23, 2026 despite resident protests.
Full Martin coverage
Indiantown Data Center Proposal
Public Hearings Scheduled
Indiantown, Martin County First of three public hearings: March 2026
Public-facing information is thin. The project advances through a three-hearing review structure typical for comprehensive-plan amendments in Florida. Residents and local advocates have begun tracking disclosures as they move through the Martin County planning process.
Citrus County
Nature Coast · Pop. 160K
Deltona Corp has filed a comprehensive plan amendment request covering roughly 813 acres — early-stage planning that would rezone the land to allow data center development.
Full Citrus coverage
Deltona Corp Comprehensive Plan Amendment
Application Filed
~813 acres Developer: Deltona Corp
The amendment request is working through Citrus County's planning process. The scale is consistent with a hyperscale project. Residents have limited public information on operator, power source, or water plan as of the most recent disclosures.
Nassau County
Northeast FL · Pop. 103K
A 1,600-acre energy-integrated campus is planned near Jacksonville International Airport. Unusually, the project pairs a 200-MW smart microgrid with the data center itself — meaning on-site power generation.
Full Nassau coverage
NextNRG Nassau County Data Center Campus
Planning
1,600 acres 400 acres data center / 1,200 acres energy infra 200 MW microgrid, scalable Near Jacksonville Intl Airport
NextNRG proposes a phased buildout starting with 50 MW modules, scaling to 200 MW or more, with additional expansion potential across 6,000 nearby acres. The on-site power generation model is less common in Florida and raises separate questions about air emissions, backup generators, and the interaction with FPL's existing grid infrastructure.
2026 Legislative Session

Florida's data center rules are being rewritten — right now.

Four bills moved through Florida's 2026 legislative session that create the state's first framework for regulating hyperscale data centers. SB 484 was signed by Gov. DeSantis on May 7, 2026 in Lakeland — “You should not pay one more red cent for electricity because of a hyper-scale data center as an individual,” he said at the signing. The law prohibits utilities from shifting data center infrastructure costs onto residential ratepayers and preserves local zoning authority, but allows state agencies to sign NDAs with developers — hiding project details from the public for up to a year. DeSantis has also requested that lawmakers reconsider his “Artificial Intelligence Bill of Rights” (SB 482) as part of an upcoming special session.

The bills differ significantly in what they require. SB 484 passed the Senate on March 13, 2026 and prohibits utilities from shifting data center infrastructure costs onto residential ratepayers, while preserving local zoning authority. HB 1007 was originally a hyperscale-restrictive bill but was substantially rewritten in committee in February 2026 — the current version mirrors SB 484 with NDA prohibitions, PSC tariff rules, and water permit requirements. SB 1118 creates a public-records exemption letting developers keep project details confidential for up to 12 months, though local government must still disclose that a project is a data center. HB 1517 would require detailed energy, water, and emissions disclosures at the application stage. All take effect July 1, 2026 if signed.

SB 484
Signed into law May 7, 2026. Protects residential ratepayers, preserves local zoning authority, requires reclaimed water where feasible. Final version allows agency NDAs up to 12 months — a reversal from the original bill. Takes effect July 1, 2026.
HB 1007
Originally restrictive of hyperscale data centers. Rewritten in committee Feb 2026 to mirror SB 484: NDA prohibitions, PSC tariff rules, water permit requirements.
SB 1118
Public records exemption. Developer "proprietary confidential business information" can be withheld from disclosure for up to 12 months — but project's identity as a data center must still be disclosed.
HB 1517
"Florida Data Center Transparency Act." Requires detailed energy, water, carbon, and noise disclosures at application stage. Existing facilities must comply by Aug 1, 2026.
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