JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Data center companies scouting locations across the country have set their sights on Jacksonville — and the power demands they’re bringing with them are staggering.
A full year of public records obtained by the News4Jax I-TEAM reveals just how much electricity these companies are requesting from JEA, and how the utility is responding.
One request, enough power for 700,000 homes
In September 2024, JEA received an inquiry from Cecil LMNO requesting 1,248 megawatts of power — enough electricity to light up approximately 700,000 Jacksonville homes, or more than 100 NFL stadiums the size of EverBank Field.
That request was the highest single power demand uncovered in the year of records reviewed by the I-TEAM. While other data center proposals requested smaller amounts, many still exceeded JEA’s maximum single-customer power load.
Jordan Pope, JEA’s interim Chief Administrative Officer, addressed the challenge head-on.
“And here at JEA, while we’re investing in our future infrastructure and future energy needs, those loads are a bit too high right now for us to serve today,” Pope said. “So when we work with these companies who are making inquiries, we’re looking at the timeframe it would take to serve them. And many times that’s years down the road, which may not meet their requirements.”
How Jacksonville’s current power customers compare
Pope explains that one megawatt equals one million watts of power. JEA currently provides electricity to six local data centers, but they are relatively small operations — some housed in downtown buildings — requiring fewer than 10 megawatts each.
The records paint a clear picture of how data center demands stack up against Jacksonville’s existing largest power users.
The customer with the highest monthly peak electric usage in 2025 was a steel company, which drew a peak of nearly 64 megawatts for its plant’s furnace, plus an additional 18 megawatts for other portions of the facility.
Paper and cardboard manufacturer WestRock recorded the third-highest annual consumption rate, with a peak draw of 40 megawatts.
Infrastructure hurdles stand in the way
Even if JEA wanted to accommodate the largest requests, major infrastructure challenges remain.
“Each of these sites would need their own dedicated substation or potentially multiple substations in order for JEA to serve them,” Pope said. “With supply chain constraints being a concern, especially because of the growth of data centers, long lead items such as substation transformers can take years to acquire and then install.”
JEA officials also say they suspect some of the inquiries didn’t come from companies seriously looking to relocate to Jacksonville, but rather from those evaluating the broader energy market — essentially testing the waters by comparing available electricity, costs and infrastructure across multiple cities.
What it means for Jacksonville residents
For residents concerned about large data centers moving into their neighborhoods, Pope says the public will have a voice in the process.
“We discuss these things in our board meetings,” Pope said. “The city council currently has had some discussions about data centers as far as planning and zoning requirements.”
To protect existing ratepayers, JEA is also implementing what’s called a large load tariff, designed to ensure current customers aren’t subsidizing new, high-demand users — making sure every customer pays their fair share.
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