Jackson County residents overflow the local commission chambers. Out in the street, they hold signs reading “Don’t ruin our aquifer” and “We can't drink data!”
Back inside, Zachary Latrell is speaking to the commission.
He thinks data centers are moving into communities without paying attention to the impact they could have, and he’s worried about what the heavy water use that often comes with data centers could mean for a nearby Creek where his family likes to spend their weekends.
"It sucks that I have to tell my kids that because of a data center, family fun days at Enconfina may no longer be a thing," Latrell says.
Data centers that help power artificial intelligence have been springing up across the country, raising concerns about noise pollution, higher electricity costs and water use. Residents in Jackson County worry those problems have now reached their doorstep. And that has caught the attention of political candidates.
"I'm not a fan of these AI data centers or the risk they pose to our critical drinking water," says Republican congressional candidate Keith Gross.
Gross is running to represent Florida’s 2nd Congressional District, which spans from Panama City to Tallahassee. Members of his team attended the recent Jackson County meeting. He spoke with WFSU later in a phone call. Gross said he doesn’t like the idea of a data center anywhere in North Florida. His concerns on the issue cross party lines. Yen Bailey, a Democrat running for the same congressional seat, attended the meeting.
“Even the thought of a data center coming into this community at this time is irresponsible with our water levels being where they are," Bailey says. "But even if we were not in a drought, these data centers—any benefits they bring to this community are far outweighed by the harms that come along with it.”
Another congressional candidate at the meeting, Democrat Nic Zateslo, raised concerns about public disclosure. He says not enough is known about the project.
"No developer has been named and no end user has been named. You don’t know who you are negotiating with and that alone should stop this process dead in its tracks," Zateslo says.
Jackson County officials say their planning department received documents relating to a solar farm or battery storage facility, but after review began to believe the project may actually be a large-scale data center based on what’s happened with similar projects in other states.
That’s one reason Commissioner Paul Donofro Jr. says he’d like to take more time before making a decision.
"It gives us the opportunity to do our due diligence, do our research, find out if it's either a good thing or a bad thing," Donofro says. "Right now, from everything I am seeing, it more than likely would be a bad thing."
Another reason Donofro says he thinks it makes sense to put the discussion on hold: a new law is scheduled to go into effect in July. It puts rules in place that ensure companies behind the centers, not local residents, pay for any added energy infrastructure needed for the centers to operate. It also puts water use protections in place and gives local governments control over where the centers can be built.
Jackson County Commissioners voted unanimously to put a one-year moratorium on the data center discussion. Their hope is that will give them more time to understand more about the company’s plan, study the center's potential environmental and economic impact and give the new state law time to go into effect.
