Key Takeaways

  • Byron Donalds has moved from promoting Florida data center development to emphasizing ratepayer protection and local control.
  • David Jolly is campaigning on a proposed one-year statewide moratorium as local opposition spreads across Florida.
  • Grid capacity, water use, project transparency, and infrastructure costs are becoming material political and business risks for data center developers.

Florida’s expanding fight over AI infrastructure is reshaping the gubernatorial contest between Republican Byron Donalds and Democrat David Jolly, while raising the permitting and investment risks facing hyperscale data center developers.

Donalds previously presented data centers and power generation as central to Florida’s economic future. Speaking at the Economic Club of Miami in June 2025, he said the state should embrace data centers and technology companies rather than “run away” from them. His position has since become more guarded as resistance to large facilities has spread.

Nineteen Florida local governments have paused or banned data centers, according to FloridaDataCenters.org. Pinellas County imposed a one-year moratorium after a developer proposed a 17,000-square-foot data processing facility, while Hillsborough County commissioners voted in August to draft a similar measure. County attorneys said Florida’s 2025 SB 180 prevents that ordinance from taking effect for another year.

Jolly has promised a one-year statewide construction moratorium if elected. His campaign also plans to visit Northern Virginia’s “Data Center Alley,” using the country’s densest concentration of data centers to illustrate the potential effects of rapid, clustered development.

Donalds characterizes Jolly’s proposal as political. Still, Donalds now supports local control and says he disagrees with a proposed federal restriction he previously voted to advance. The U.S. House version of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act included a 10-year moratorium on enforcement of state and local AI regulations. The U.S. Senate removed that provision before President Trump signed the legislation.

Recent polling reflects growing skepticism toward infrastructure projects. A July poll from the Public Opinion Research Lab at the University of North Florida found that 68% of respondents would oppose an AI data center in their area. A separate James Madison Institute poll of 1,400 Floridians found 49% somewhat or strongly opposed statewide data center investment, compared with 40% who supported it.

The pressure extends beyond Florida. Data centers consumed about 192 terawatt-hours of U.S. electricity in 2024, equivalent to roughly 4.7% of national consumption, according to the Congressional Research Service. Its projections put 2030 consumption between 521 and 843 terawatt-hours, or 9.5% to 15.3% of U.S. electricity use.

The Electric Power Research Institute similarly estimates that data centers represented 21 to 22 gigawatts of non-coincident peak load in 2024, potentially increasing to between 45 and 94 gigawatts by 2030. Those figures help explain why utilities, regulators, and communities are scrutinizing interconnection schedules and who pays for new generation and transmission.

Florida’s SB 484 requires data centers to fund their own utility infrastructure and establishes large-scale consumptive-use requirements. It also gives water management districts or the Department of Environmental Protection a role in requiring reclaimed water for cooling. Donalds has endorsed the measure, which was sponsored by Bryan Avila, his running mate.

Transparency remains another fault line. Avila also sponsored SB 1118, which would have shielded information about prospective data center projects from public disclosure for up to a year. The bill cleared three Senate committees but died on the floor after critics, including independent Sen. Jason Pizzo, argued that secrecy could undermine trust in local officials.

Data centers support far more than generative AI. Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud, and Microsoft Azure infrastructure underpins e-commerce, business applications, storage, and internet services. The Pew Research Center has also documented how the AI boom is intensifying electricity demand at U.S. facilities. The political dispute is increasingly about scale, location, and cost allocation rather than whether digital infrastructure has economic value.

Donalds has introduced the federal Protecting the Ratepayers Act, which would require data center operators to obtain energy and water from alternatives that do not interfere with public grids or water systems. Critics warn that off-grid requirements could create other environmental problems if sourcing and emissions are not regulated.

For developers and cloud operators, the message is getting clearer. Technical efficiency standards such as ASHRAE thermal guidance and ISO/IEC 30134 metrics remain relevant, but efficient equipment alone may not secure community approval. Early disclosure, credible power and water plans, enforceable cost protections, and local engagement are becoming central parts of project viability in Florida.