Manatee County freezes data-center applications over water and power concerns

Manatee County freezes data-center applications over water and power concernsManatee County commissioners unanimously approved a one-year halt on applications for data centers and other large-load customers. The pause will block development applications while the county assesses how to regulate facilities that staff said can impose infrastructure demands comparable to small municipalities.

The 12-month moratorium covers building permits, site plans, development orders, rezonings, development agreements, special permits and comprehensive-plan amendments related to data centers.

Florida law defines a large-scale data center or large-load customer as a single location with an anticipated monthly peak electricity load of at least 50MW.

Staff said the state water-management district or department cannot issue a water-allocation permit where proposed data-center use would harm area water resources or conflict with local zoning or comprehensive-plan rules.

Commissioners said the county had not received a data-center application, although staff had previously flagged a data-center use within a broader GDP application that was subsequently withdrawn.

Manatee County has approved a 12-month moratorium on data-center development applications, giving officials time to consider controls for facilities with potentially significant water and electricity requirements. The Board of County Commissioners voted unanimously on 8 October to adopt Ordinance 26-42, stopping the acceptance, processing and review of applications for building permits, site plans, development orders, development agreements, special permits, rezonings and comprehensive-plan amendments connected with data centers. The measure also applies to other large-load customers in unincorporated Manatee County. Staff said the ordinance follows a 28 July board direction to prepare a temporary moratorium. It comes after Florida Senate Bill 484 took effect on 1 July 2026, defining data centers and large-load customers and establishing provisions around their electricity and water service. Under the state law, a large-scale data center or large-load customer is one or more data centers at a single location with an anticipated monthly peak load of 50MW or more, calculated as the highest average load over a 15-minute interval. Electricity providers must apply tariffs designed to ensure such customers bear their full cost of service rather than shifting costs to other ratepayers. The law also bars a water-management district governing board or the department from issuing a water-allocation permit to a large-scale data-center applicant where the proposed use would harm water resources or is prohibited under applicable local zoning and comprehensive-plan regulations. A permit must be issued if the applicant establishes that the use is reasonable-beneficial, does not interfere with an existing legal water use and is consistent with the public interest. Staff told commissioners that large-scale data centers can require substantial water and electricity resources to power and cool specialised servers, in some cases creating infrastructure demands comparable to small municipalities. The proposed pause is intended to allow staff to examine definitions, compatibility, water and electricity consumption, noise, environmental effects, design standards, suitable zoning and future-land-use categories, and application procedures and fees. Commissioner Bearden said Manatee County was "very sensitive on their water" and questioned whether the county had capacity for data centers. He said he did not consider the county or Florida an appropriate location for the facilities given current water concerns. Staff said no data-center application had been received. However, a data-center use had been included among a long list of potential uses in a pending general development plan application. Staff said it identified that data centers were not defined in the county code or comprehensive plan, and the request was withdrawn before reaching the Planning Commission. Commissioners also discussed the challenge of defining the regulated use. Commissioner Cruz said a blanket ban on "data centers" could capture smaller or legitimate facilities, while a threshold based on power demand could potentially encompass advanced manufacturing or mining operations. He said the moratorium would prevent applications now while allowing staff and a future board to evaluate options. The board adopted the 12-month term without a formal additional direction setting a research deadline for staff. Staff said it would develop a schedule for work on comprehensive-plan and land-development-code changes after the meeting.