Florida secretary of commerce raises concerns over $2.6B Fort Meade data center plan
Massive data center plan faces state pushback
Despite major pushback from the community, the Fort Meade City Commission approved a development agreement for a massive data center on Tuesday. However, the $2.6 billion facility has now caught the attention of the state. FOX 13's Carla Bayron reports.
FORT MEADE, Fla. - Despite major pushback from the community, the Fort Meade City Commission approved a development agreement for a massive data center on Tuesday. However, the $2.6 billion facility has now caught the attention of the state.
On Wednesday, Florida Secretary of Commerce J. Alex Kelly, wrote a letter to Fort Meade Mayor Jaret Williams, raising red flags about the project.
By the numbers:
Kelly said that if the more than 4,000,000-square-foot facility is ultimately constructed, it will present significant risks to central Florida's energy capacity, water resources and transportation infrastructure.
The data center would be located on a 1,300-acre former phosphate mine.
The developer, Florida Ecopark LLC, says the facility would use 50,000 gallons of water per day and could create nearly 500 jobs by 2031.
The facility is expected to be powered by Duke Energy, while Fort Meade residents currently receive power through the Florida Municipal Power Agency.
Resident concerns
- Noise and light pollution
- Water usage
- Potential health impacts
- Heat emissions
- Increased traffic
What they're saying:
"We're seeing a lot of pushback, not just in town from people who are disappointed, but all the way out throughout Polk County and the entire state, who are disappointed of them just letting this happen to our city," Raul Alfonso, a resident of Fort Meade and a member of the group Watchdogs of Fort Meade, said.
In Kelly’s letter, he added that the benefits of the project to the community, including the creation of jobs, aren't clear. Furthermore, the developer's projected demand for water is woefully underestimated for a data center of its size.
Kelly calls the project fundamentally flawed and far from "approved."
"We are 100% in support of positive growth and opportunities for the city, but we want to make sure we're set up for success and not approved too early to where we have false hope and no jobs for the citizens in the town," George McNerney, the vice chair of Watchdogs of Fort Meade, said.
What we don't know:
Questions also still remain about who will ultimately operate the data center.
What's next:
The developer still needs to acquire a number of permits from various agencies, including the Southwest Florida Water Management District, before the project can move forward.
The other side:
FOX 13 reached out to the mayor and the city commission for comment. One commissioner, Candice Lott, replied.
Lott said the concerns raised by the commerce secretary will need to be addressed before any development can occur.
Here is Lott's full statement:
"I can only speak for myself as an individual commissioner, but I do want to clarify that my vote was not to approve a data center, but to approve a development agreement. That agreement outlines conditions and protections for the City if the project moves forward.
The project itself remains subject to multiple levels of review and approval at the county, regional, and state levels, including agencies responsible for water, environmental, and infrastructure considerations. The concerns raised in the Florida Department of Commerce letter are part of the reason those additional regulatory processes exist and will need to be addressed through those channels before any development could occur.
From my perspective, the agreement ensures that the City has safeguards in place—such as defined responsibilities and limits—rather than having no framework at all if the project advances through those other approvals."
The Source: This article was written with information from the Florida secretary of commerce, and residents of Fort Meade.