TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WCTV) – Leon County leaders are weighing in on the possibility of data centers coming to the county.
On Tuesday, Chairman Christian Caban sent a letter to the other commissioners stating he would like to put a one-year moratorium on data centers if they express interest in coming to Leon County.
“We want to have all the proper information before we allow anything like this in our community,” Caban said.
In a unanimous vote, commissioners agreed to come back at their next meeting with a proposal for a one-year moratorium on data centers in Leon County.
Caban says the moratorium would essentially pause any forward progress on a data center in the county.
“A recent city agenda item looking at creating new basically solar farms to create more power supply, you know, it has been rumored that this is because they have been communicating with a data center, so I think it’s important that we slow that down a little bit,” Caban says.
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As communities across the country are having discussions about data centers and what they could mean for their areas, Caban says he wants more information before even starting that conversation in Leon County.
“You’ve seen all over the state of Florida, all over the country, there’s all this talk about data centers coming to communities. They basically absorb all of the power supply which drives up the rate for utilities on residents. Not only on top of that they are using up all the water supply, they’re loud, and environmental impacts, more importantly, they don’t really provide that many jobs.”
One speaker shared his thoughts with the board on Tuesday.
“Tallahassee is the perfect spot for a lot of these things to happen because we have land right around Tallahassee, and Leon County is going to be a target.”
Commissioner David O’Keefe says if the county moves forward with a moratorium, he wants to make sure there are clear guidelines in place…
“I hope that when we consider an item on a moratorium, there’s some suggestions here like making sure there’s certain triggers that would trigger being blocked while we’re in a moratorium while we look at long-term policies,” O’Keefe said.
The commissioners agreed to come back next month to talk more about this moratorium and what they would like to do.
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