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Peters seeks to block data centers despite state law
“Data centers aren’t a job creator.”
Pinellas County Commissioner Kathleen Peters wants to ban data centers in Pinellas County, but under current legislation, it may be impossible to stop them.
While the county has not received an official proposal to build a data center, Peters reported to the Catalyst that staff has been approached by an unnamed party interested in developing a data center somewhere along Gandy Boulevard, where the center would have easy access to water to use for evaporative cooling of its systems. Millions of gallons are required daily.
“I don’t want increased demand on water and power,” said Peters. “What we need are good fiber optics, but we don’t need data centers here.”
(Note: fiber optics are used for high-speed communications.)
Kathleen Peters
However, Gov. Ron DeSantis has extended statewide tax exemptions for data centers to entice more technological development across Florida, one of the largest investment verticals currently. That extension holds until June 2027.
Data centers are expanding to facilitate Artificial Intelligence (AI) investment. $8 trillion in AI spending is projected between now and 2030, making it comparable to the space race, according to Christopher Lloyd, Senior Vice President at McGuire Woods Consulting, who spoke at a February economic development summit in St. Petersburg.
At the summit, Lloyd argued that Pinellas has to be ready to capture that level of investment to stay competitive in an AI-driven world.
Friday, Peters pushed back on that notion with an ardent rejoinder: “Data centers aren’t a job creator.”
She argued that Florida needs to stick to what it already does best. “We need a good workforce, well-trained people, low taxes and a business-friendly community,” she said.
If she could, Peters would ban all data center development throughout Pinellas, but current legislation makes banning impossible, an unforeseen drawback to that legislation’s intent.
The legislation, Senate Bill 180, inadvertently curbs the county’s ability to stop data center development and was sponsored by Republican Senator Nick DiCeglie following the 2024 hurricanes. Originally intended to fast-track permitting in storm-impacted areas, giving the community a chance to rebuild faster by bypassing local planning authority, it effectively curtails constitutional home rule and opens municipalities to risky lawsuits.
Lawsuits remain a major risk because the legislation allows municipalities to be sued for being too “restrictive or burdensome” toward development. The ambiguity of what constitutes “restrictive or burdensome” opens the floodgates to developments like data centers, and the county has no recourse to stop it.
During the recent legislative session, amendment bills were proposed that would have corrected that oversight. But while a version passed in the Senate, a House companion, required for it to become law, never passed through the House Chamber, giving developers an entire year to push proposals through with little pushback, causing fear and concern among municipalities that were affected by the hurricanes. Now those fears are being realized.
But that’s not stopping Peters from taking whatever action she can under the law. “I will push to make sure they [data centers] get no tax incentives or abatements,” she said. “I will push for what we can do.”
John Donovan
May 4, 2026at8:24 pm
FYI- FACT: There were thousands of cars, people and noise at an event at Win Derby (Derby L, gandy Blvd) on Saturday. But a Data Center – run for your lives!
John Donovan
May 4, 2026at7:48 pm
Oooh. Scary! Nat gas. Nat is short for natural. And Nat Gas is the primary fuel source for the Bartow Power Plant located just a couple miles from Gandy and immediately adjacent to Tampa Bay waters. It provides much of the electricity in St Petersburg. (Bloom Energy product by the way does not use combustion to create electricity. Do your homework)
John Donovan
May 4, 2026at7:40 pm
if there are “no jobs” in data centers, how is traffic going to be an issue?
Jason King
May 4, 2026at4:37 pm
Thank you for raising this issue.
Were fighting rezoning for heavy industry & subsequent Data Center in Citrus County.
See our website here:
nodatacentercitrus.org
Learn about statewide Data Centers here:
https://floridadatacenters.org/risk-calculator
S. Rose Smith-Hayes
May 3, 2026at3:38 pm
Allegedly these Centers require 50 million gallons of water a day and reportedly it causes an energy drain. Several cities in Florida are fighting. Please, we do Not need this anywhere near Tampa Bay.
Okeechobee, Fl, Fort Meade,Fl
Palm Beach County and Indiantown, Fl are cities and Counties in Florida that are fighting this intrusion. They do not provide many jobs. I appreciate Ms. Peters fighting this intrusion. Someone, please educate the Governor of Florida.
Pat O'Brien
May 2, 2026at7:52 pm
I’m sorry but “Millions of gallons of water” isn’t even close to the truth.
Bradley Oconner
May 4, 2026at1:00 pm
A typical large data center can consume between 1 million and 5 million gallons of water daily, primarily for cooling purposes. For perspective, at the higher end, this daily usage is equivalent to the water demands of a town with 10,000 to 50,000 residents.
John Donovan
May 2, 2026at7:30 pm
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John Donovan
May 2, 2026at7:29 pm
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John Donovan
May 2, 2026at7:17 pm
Data centers do not necessarily need to pile on the regular domestic power supply. There are multiple stand alone options that create their own electricity on site and that are in use in some locations currently. And we are floating on nat gas in North America. We can create as much electricity as we need. Most systems recycle water use. It doesn’t heat to stem temperatures and disappear. And I know of no reason why they would create permanent extra traffic of any consequence. There are already data centers in the thousands in USA albeit not typically of the size of the new models. Nearly $2 billion / day on average is this years fiscal spending by just the four largest hyperscalers on data centers. $2 billion / day is not a typo. The services-apps-on your cell phone are arriving to you via data centers in many or most cases. The hysteria over data centers is uninformed and childish. Grow up and work it out or ditch your cellphone, your self-driving car, your home video streaming etc. Your choice.
Steven Sullivan
May 2, 2026at9:31 pm
Dude stop trying to sell a hyperscale data center in an urban area. Its a water and infrastructure issue and Bliom Energy is low efficiency natural gas emissions spewing fuel cells. No! Im in the Energy storage business having worked with some of the largest EPCs
James R & Emily Gillespie
May 2, 2026at3:40 pm
no data centers for gandy. need too much power and water. plus gandy has high traffic use now. well, land use is one thing the state excels at