Haines City water limits puts data center plan on hold
A proposed data center project by Cielo Digital Infrastructure in Haines City, Florida, is currently stalled due to the city's insufficient water capacity, which is already strained by rapid residential growth. City officials are seeking a permit modification from the Southwest Florida Water Management District to increase water supply, a process complicated by the data center's request for 150,000 gallons daily. Residents have voiced concerns about the city's water resources.
Haines City, Florida, is facing a significant hurdle in its rapid development, as a proposed data center project by Texas-based Cielo Digital Infrastructure remains on hold due to the city's limited water capacity. Deputy City Manager James Keene highlighted that the city's water utility system, currently producing 10 million gallons daily and using over 7 million, is stretched by the addition of more than 10,000 residential units since 2020 and another 8,000 in the pipeline.
Cielo Digital Infrastructure had made a preliminary inquiry for utility service for a potential data center near Marion Road and State Road 544 East, requesting up to 150,000 gallons of potable water per day. This request was added to the city's pending modification application with the Southwest Florida Water Management District (SWFWMD) to increase its water use permit to 16.42 million gallons daily. The original permit, issued in 2011, did not anticipate such rapid growth.
Resident Jule Cortez voiced concerns, questioning the logic of a data center consuming 150,000 gallons daily when the area already faces water problems. Keene confirmed that the data center project is still in its "due diligence phase" and has not yet come before the city commission for approval, pending SWFWMD's decision on the water permit modification. A SWFWMD spokesperson stated that while Haines City submitted a modification application in June 2022, it is still awaiting a final response, and the application does not officially request allocation for data center use.