Jacksonville City Council members, JEA, planners answer residents’ data center questions
Jacksonville officials, JEA and city planners are examining how a potential hyperscale data center could affect the city’s electricity supply, water use, noise and residents. JEA says it has received about 50 data center inquiries but lacks the capacity to serve a facility requiring 50 megawatts or more without significant infrastructure upgrades.
Jacksonville City Council members, JEA representatives and city planners held a discussion to answer residents’ questions before any major hyperscale data center proposal advances. JEA said it operates six existing data centers but is not equipped to serve a facility requiring at least 50 megawatts without building a new substation and making other upgrades. Officials said such a project would likely be treated as a light industrial use and proceed through a planned unit development process.
Residents raised concerns about water consumption, pollution, noise and whether existing JEA customers would bear the cost of infrastructure improvements. Council members discussed lowering the threshold that triggers additional review from 50 megawatts to as low as 25 or 30 megawatts, as well as a possible moratorium to allow more research and regulation. Proposed legislation would require large electricity users to pay the full cost of new infrastructure needed to serve them rather than shifting those costs to existing customers.