Pinellas County officials discussed using water restrictions, utility policies, and tax incentive bans to discourage massive data centers during a May 14 work session. The Board of County Commissioners weighed whether these approaches could stop facilities tied to artificial intelligence and cloud computing from building in the county.
Commissioner Chris Scherer said the facilities consume enormous amounts of water and electricity while generating minimal jobs. “We don’t want them,” Scherer said, according to the St. Pete Catalyst. “They’re just going to drive up our electric costs. They’re going to suck up our water.”
Scherer cited estimates showing small data centers can drain up to 3 million gallons of water each month. Big facilities might guzzle more than 150 million gallons monthly…