HERNANDO COUNTY, Fla. — Hernando County leaders are preparing to enter Florida’s growing debate over data centers.
County commissioners are expected to discuss a proposed moratorium on future data center applications as leaders study potential impacts tied to water resources, power infrastructure, and nearby neighborhoods.
The proposal comes as communities across Florida see increasing interest in large-scale data farms tied to artificial intelligence and cloud computing.
At Weeki Wachee Springs, visitors like Ray Proetto say protecting Florida’s natural resources should be paramount to the conversation.
“My opinion is that Florida is already overdeveloped, and the springs are suffering already,” said Proetto, who was visiting the river from St. Petersburg. “To build a data center that’s going to pull more water out of the aquifer makes no sense.”
Commissioner John Allocco, who is pushing for the proposed moratorium, says county leaders need time to study possible regulations before projects are ever proposed in Hernando County.
“My entire tenure on the board, we’ve spent a lot of time dealing with Weeki Wachee River and the basin management plan that the state has given us, and so water is very important to us,” Allocco said.
Allocco says concerns about water usage, power demands, and even noise from data centers are all part of why he believes the county needs to act proactively.
“We’ve gotta find some ways to protect our local populace,” Allocco said.
Just to the north in Citrus County, commissioners recently approved a similar pause after a potential data center project was announced near Lecanto.
Allocco says he is not opposed to data centers in Florida, but he believes counties should have guardrails in place to protect nearby communities and natural resources.
“If you’re not proactive, you’re going to get run over,” Allocco said. “That’s just the way it is.”
Hernando County commissioners are expected to begin discussing the proposal at next Tuesday’s meeting.
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