More counties in Florida have recently enacted moratoriums on the construction of new data centers.
Pasco County commissioners issued a one-year moratorium to review the impact on local infrastructure after residents raised concerns.
Pasco County leaders enacted a one-year temporary ban on new data centers Tuesday to investigate how the massive computer facilities impact neighborhood resources and utility grids. https://t.co/yPB7E64QLU
— FOX 13 Tampa Bay (@FOX13News) July 16, 2026
FOX 13 Tampa Bay has more:
Pasco County commissioners voted unanimously Tuesday to establish a 12-month pause on building new data centers in unincorporated Pasco County. The moratorium decision came during a meeting where residents raised unexpected concerns about the environment, electrical impacts, and aggressive real estate tactics targeting local farmland.
District 4 Commissioner Lisa Yeager noted that one local landowner was hounded by an agent who offered to beat her asking price by 10 times the amount. District 2 Commissioner Seth Weightman said the facilities can span up to a million square feet, sparking worries about the massive amounts of water and power needed to cool internal servers.
ADVERTISEMENTNeighboring Citrus and Hernando counties have already placed moratoriums on these projects, while Sarasota County implemented its own ban, and DeSoto County is considering a moratorium. New York became the first state to pass a statewide moratorium on Tuesday.
For now, a new Florida law preserves local authority over data center construction and regulates how data center costs impact residents and businesses.
Meanwhile, Leon County commissioners banned large data centers for 18 months.
It's unanimous: @LeonCounty Commission bans new data centers for 18 months https://t.co/YkpRdMnx3R
by @ari_v_otero via @TDOnline— Jim Rosica (@JimRosicaFL) July 15, 2026
WCTV explained further:
They unanimously agreed this will give them extra time to allow them to better understand the impacts a data center could have in Leon County.
Commissioner David O’Keefe said he believes the moratorium is something the county will benefit from.
“We’ll look back and be very glad that we put this 18 month hold on large scale data, power users and large scale data centers to have time to look at it before we make long-term, permanent decisions,” O’Keefe said. “I think that this is some decision that we’re going to come back to 10 years from now and this county is going to be better off for it.”
Pasco and Leon are the latest Florida counties to either ban or impose moratoriums on data centers.
