Why this score?
Four weighted factors drive the Baker County risk score. Methodology is fully documented — each input is public data or a reasoned proxy.
Limited in-county generation, but adjacent counties have significant capacity.
Suwannee River WMD — rural district with abundant water, minimal stress.
Very rural. Abundant large parcels available for industrial conversion.
One adjacent county has an active project. Regional infrastructure is already being tapped.
Water infrastructure
Any hyperscale data center in Baker County would need a consumptive use permit from the Suwannee River (split with St. Johns) Water Management District. Baker County is split between two water management districts, which can trigger dual-agency review for a project straddling the internal district line.
The Suwannee River Water Management District is the fifth-largest by geography but the smallest by population. Agriculture is the largest water use category in the district (64% of 2023 withdrawals) — meaning a hyperscale data center would compete with farms for finite aquifer capacity. The district issued a water shortage advisory in January 2026 that remains in effect.
A single hyperscale data center using evaporative cooling can require 1–5 million gallons per day. Agriculture is already the dominant water use in this district. A hyperscale data center would compete directly with farms for limited aquifer capacity, a politically difficult tradeoff in an agricultural region.
Electric infrastructure
Grid capacity and transmission access are the single biggest driver of where hyperscale developers actually site projects.
Baker County is served by Clay Electric Cooperative as the primary electric utility, with Okefenoke REMC covering rural and cooperative-served areas. Adjacent to Duval County (Jacksonville).
Electric cooperatives are member-owned and typically serve rural territory. Cooperatives generally lack the transmission capacity needed for hyperscale loads without significant utility-funded buildout, making cooperative-served areas less attractive to data center developers than investor-owned territory.
State legislative context
Florida's 2026 legislative session produced the regulatory framework that will shape every data center proposal in the state, including any that may come to Baker County.
Florida's 2026 legislative session produced multiple bills that directly affect how data centers can be sited and permitted statewide, including in Baker County. HB 1007 and SB 484 both propose restrictions on hyperscale data center siting, mandatory impact studies, minimum setbacks from residential areas and schools, and water-use disclosure requirements. Neither bill bans data centers outright — they raise the procedural bar. Some versions would allow economic development agencies to shield the end-user identity of a project for up to 12 months after filing, a provision that has already been used at projects like Project Tango in Palm Beach County.
No active data center in Baker County — yet.
Palm Beach got four days notice before their first zoning vote. Nassau's moratorium vote is June 8. What they did, you can do — but only if you're ready before the proposal lands.
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Not legal advice. Written by AI trained on Florida public records, Sunshine Law, SB 484, HB 1007, and documented data center cases from Newton County GA, Mansfield GA, and Bessemer AL.
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