What to know about data centers in Florida: Power, water, local control and the new law<\/a><\/p>\nRight now, the utility says it does not have the electric or water capacity to serve a hyperscale data center.<\/p>\n
But the utility is already preparing for the possibility.<\/p>\n
JEA is developing a new rate class for large-load customers demanding 50 megawatts or more, with that work continuing into 2027.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs with other new and revised rates, we will submit the proposed tariff to the Florida Public Service Commission for review,\u201d JEA said. \u201cThe proposed tariff would then require approval by the JEA Board of Directors.\u201d<\/p>\n
For current JEA customers, another question is who would pay if new infrastructure is needed to serve a large data center. JEA said those costs would fall to the large-load customer.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe will commit to ensuring that large-load customers pay for their own infrastructure,\u201d JEA stated.<\/p>\n
JEA did not identify who made the large-load data center inquiries.<\/p>\n
The conversation is already playing out elsewhere in Florida. A statewide database maintained by ElectricChoice tracks data centers in 22 Florida counties, with 52 facilities in Miami-Dade County and 16 in Duval County.<\/p>\n
But those numbers include data centers of different sizes. The issue Jacksonville leaders are beginning to examine is what happens if one of the much larger, more power-intensive facilities wants to build here.<\/p>\n
Jacksonville has data centers \u2014 just not this large<\/p>\n
Jacksonville is not new to data centers.<\/p>\n
City Councilwoman Mon\u00e9 Holder said the city already has smaller and mid-scale facilities. What it does not currently have, she said, are the massive facilities using 50 megawatts or more that are driving many of the current concerns.<\/p>\n
Holder said the issue repeatedly came up while she was campaigning for her at-large City Council seat, with questions coming from communities across Duval County.<\/p>\n
\u201cI heard it from the Beaches to Baldwin,\u201d Holder said, adding that residents have questions about the potential long-term effects of much larger data centers and what their arrival could mean for surrounding communities.<\/p>\n
Among the concerns Holder said she has heard are potential noise, air and water pollution, heat, and the impact large data centers could have on electricity bills.<\/p>\n
Holder said her current understanding is that no 50-megawatt-plus facility is planned for Jacksonville, but she wants the city\u2019s Planning Department to confirm that.<\/p>\n
Getting answers before one arrives<\/p>\n
Holder is bringing JEA and the city\u2019s Planning Department together for a public meeting to explain what Jacksonville currently has and what would happen if someone wanted to build a much larger data center here.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019ll hear some short brief presentations from folks from the Planning Department, from JEA, about what currently exists, what may be coming along the pipeline and what the process is if someone wants to bring a data center to Jacksonville,\u201d Holder said.<\/p>\n
JEA can answer the utility questions: whether the system could serve a facility that large, what infrastructure could be required and how those costs would be handled.<\/p>\n
Planning can answer the development questions: what do Jacksonville\u2019s rules currently allow, what approvals would be required, and when would the public have an opportunity to weigh in.<\/p>\n
The public meeting is scheduled from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Wednesday in the Lynwood Roberts Room at Jacksonville City Hall, 117 W. Duval St. It is open to the public.<\/p>\n
Copyright 2026 by WJXT News4JAX – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"What would happen if one of the massive data centers popping up across Florida wanted to come to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":421154,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[52520,1039,1563,28,116,118,117,5436,99,4443],"class_list":["post-421153","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-jacksonville","tag-data-centers","tag-duval-county","tag-environment","tag-florida","tag-jacksonville","tag-jacksonville-headlines","tag-jacksonville-news","tag-morning-show","tag-politics","tag-tech"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/421153","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=421153"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/421153\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/421154"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=421153"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=421153"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=421153"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}