OKEECHOBEE — The public comment section of the April 9 Okeechobee Board of County Commissioner meeting was dominated by residents concerned about the upcoming Okee-One data center project.
“We're being told that building data centers is progress and that it will bring opportunity, growth and a brighter future,” said Okeechobee resident Korinne Curren. “But I ask, progress for who? Data centers are not like small businesses that become a part of the community. They're massive industrial facilities. They consume enormous amounts of electricity, water and resources that we depend on every single day.”
At the Feb. 26 Okeechobee County Commission meeting, Indian River State College Associate Vice President of Government and Community Relations Andrew Treadwell presented commissioners with an update on the data center project and said that demolition was set to begin in March at the old Boys School property.
IRSC was able to procure the Boys School property for the planned data center in 2023. The Okeechobee County Economic Development Corporation made acquiring the Boys’ School property one of its top priorities starting back in 2021 and in 2022, the Economic Development Corporation, IRSC and the County worked together to obtain the property from the state.
Governor Ron DeSantis awarded IRSC $1.5 million in Rural Infrastructure Funds in Dec. 2024 to help site preparation for the data center. Treadwell says that more funding will be needed. Additional funds could come from the Florida Legislature or private investment.
Data centers require a significant amount of electricity, and FPL has reported that the planned site for the data center in Okeechobee can currently support up to 9 megawatts. Treadwell told Okeechobee commissioners that IRSC plans to build a 9-to-10- megawatt data center, but that additional power will likely be needed over time.
Public sentiment has turned against data centers in the two years following the initial funding of $1.5 million dollars that IRSC received from Gov. DeSantis. With opponents claiming data centers are a drag on local resources with little upside for the community. A petition against the Okee-One data center is nearing 2,000 signatures.
“Is there an unlimited amount that this program is allowed to expand to,” asked Elizabeth Canright during the public comment section. “Is there something to protect the citizens from it becoming a mega data center? That's my main concern. And obviously we don't want it here, right?”
The number of data center projects has spiked around the country, despite local pushback from residents in areas where they’re being built. Tech giants like Alphabet Inc., Amazon.com, Meta Platforms Inc. and Microsoft Corp. committed to spending more than $650 billion this year to build data centers. On March 30, Festus, Missouri’s city council voted 6-2 to approve plans for a $6 billion data center in the area despite fierce vocal opposition.
In the Festus municipal election one week after that vote, every incumbent on the ballot was voted out of office.
Data center projects in Palm Beach, St Lucie County and Fort Meade have also received pushback from locals. The developer of the St Lucie data center has already signaled they may withdraw their plan. But Fort Meade’s Planning and Zoning Commission voted April 7 to approve their data center project, despite opposition from locals.
“When decisions are made without listening to the people, it stops being about progress and starts being about exploitation,” said Curren in her remarks to Okeechobee Commissioners. “That's why I say this is not just a bad idea. It feels fundamentally wrong. Not because technology is evil, but because of the way it's being forced into all of these small towns and the way that it will affect the people.”
“We're not against the future, but we're against being overlooked, overrun and undervalued,” concluded Curren. “This town is more than just open land on a map. It's our home. And once we give that up, we won't get it back.”
BOCC Chairman David Hazellief thanked those who spoke at the meeting and said the Board appreciated the feedback from everyone.
“Whether it be this one or any other when it may want to come to town, we're going to do our due diligence,” explained Commissioner Hazellief. “We're going to visit sites and we're going to find out about that. And if you have input to give us, we're always open to hear it.”
