OKEECHOBEE- A petition created to stop the Okee-One data center in Okeechobee has reached over 1,000 signatures.
“The response from our community has been extraordinary,” said Wyatt Deihl, a local organizer leading the campaign. “This is about protecting our water, our health, and the future of our community. Now, it’s about making sure our state leaders hear us loud and clear.”
The petition states that industrial-scale data centers bring significant risks, including high water consumption, increased strain on energy infrastructure, and public health concerns tied to emissions and site redevelopment. In addition to asking for signatures, the petition urged residents to contact their leaders in both the local and state government to voice their opposition to the data center.
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 is set to begin in March at the old Boys School property.
The first phase of demolition will see the cottages facing US Hwy 441 taken down, with the second phase demolishing remaining exterior structures on the north of the property.
IRSC was able to procure the 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.
Wyatt says that while construction of the data center and technical training may create temporary jobs, long-term employment opportunities are expected to be limited and highly specialized, while residents bear lasting impacts such as increased traffic, industrial noise, and the erosion of Okeechobee’s rural character.
“Communities across the country are already pushing back against similar projects after experiencing these outcomes firsthand,” Wyatt added. “The pattern is clear: benefits go outward, while the costs stay local.”
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 County 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. And the political winds have begun to follow that public pushback.
“If you double the demand, unless you double the supply, prices are going to go up,” said Gov. DeSantis about data center’s effect on electricity prices. “That’s just the way this stuff works. Unless you’re producing more, if you’re increasing demand exponentially, you are going to have individuals pay more. The cost is going to be higher.”
Gov. DeSantis announced a proposal for a Citizen Bill of Rights for Artificial Intelligence back in Dec. 2024. Parts of that proposed bill include language that would prohibit utilities from charging residents more to support hyperscale data center development, including electric, gas, and water utilities.
The bill, SB484, establishes a state law that costs cannot be shifted to ratepayers. But the law effectively leaves the task of implementing the policy to the utilities. The legislation requires electric providers to file documents laying out how they intend to comply with the measure by Oct. 1 with the Public Service Commission (PSC), which oversees the state’s utilities.
In an interview with Inside Climate News, associate research professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Anna Haensch, pointed out that the bill still left wiggle room for utilities on how it is implemented.
“It’s going to depend a lot on what the Public Service Commission is aiming for, what their end goal is” said Haensch. “This leaves room to still privilege the needs of a data center over the needs of a ratepayer, and if the PSC is game to do that there are still lots of little holes they could walk through.”
Wyatt says residents are organizing to attend the next Board of County Commissioners meeting on April 9, 2026, at 9 a.m. at the Okeechobee County Historic Courthouse to provide public comment and share personal testimony.
“We are not against progress,” concluded Wyatt. “We are for responsible, evidence-based growth that protects our resources and truly benefits the people who live here.”
