Why this score?
Four weighted factors drive the Seminole 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.
St. Johns River WMD — mixed urban/rural, moderate capacity.
Suburban. Some large parcels available, but growing competition.
No direct adjacency, but known projects within the broader region.
Water infrastructure
Any hyperscale data center in Seminole County would need a consumptive use permit from the St. Johns River Water Management District.
The St. Johns River Water Management District covers 23% of Florida's land area and serves roughly 4.7 million residents across northeast and east-central Florida. Average daily water use hit 1.49 billion gallons in 2023. The district declared a Phase 1 Moderate Water Shortage in February 2026 affecting parts of Alachua, Baker, Bradford, Marion, and all of Duval County.
A single hyperscale data center using evaporative cooling can require 1–5 million gallons per day. With the district under an active Phase 1 Water Shortage declaration in early 2026, any new consumptive use permit for millions of gallons per day faces a much higher bar than in a normal water year.
Electric infrastructure
Grid capacity and transmission access are the single biggest driver of where hyperscale developers actually site projects.
Seminole County is served by Duke Energy Florida as the primary electric utility, with Florida Power & Light covering rural and cooperative-served areas. Orlando metro area, dense residential growth.
Duke Energy Florida is the state's second-largest investor-owned utility. Duke has been actively upgrading transmission capacity in central and north Florida to handle growing industrial demand — the Fort Meade hyperscale project in Polk County is tied to Duke's Hines Complex.
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 Seminole County.
Florida's 2026 legislative session produced multiple bills that directly affect how data centers can be sited and permitted statewide, including in Seminole 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 Seminole County — yet.
Palm Beach got four days notice before their first zoning vote. Polk County approved Fort Meade's 4.4M-sq-ft complex on April 15. What they did, you can do — but only if you're ready before the proposal lands.
Enter your address and pick your concerns. We write a personalized opposition letter citing state statutes, local project data, and your specific concerns — then email it directly to every commissioner in your county on your behalf. You get a full copy of everything sent.
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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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