Why Palm Beach County is High risk
Score calculated from four factors: power infrastructure, water capacity, land availability, and current exposure (known projects in the county). Palm Beach scores 73/100 — the tipping factor is a maxed-out power factor plus an active, named project.
Major in-county power generation (≥1,500 MW). Developers can site hyperscale campuses next to existing plants — exactly what Project Tango does at the FPL West County Energy Center.
South Florida Water Management District — Everglades restoration, high existing demand, significant water stress.
Major metro. Minimal available large-parcel industrial land — a reason developers are contesting the 2016-era approval on the Tango parcel specifically.
Project Tango is a named, active data center proposal with a scheduled commission vote.
The facts, as filed.
"Project Tango"
(scaled back from 3.7M after community pushback)
Project Tango, explained.
On the western edge of Palm Beach County, where US-441/State Road 7 gives way to cattle pasture and sugarcane, a 202-acre parcel is poised to become one of the largest data center campuses ever proposed in the state. The developer, PBA Holdings, first secured zoning approval for data storage at this site in 2016. At the time, the plans called for 206,000 square feet of data storage. The revised 2025 application raises that figure to 1.79 million square feet — more than eight times the original footprint — plus an additional 1.9 million square feet of warehouse space, for a total buildout of 3.7 million square feet across four phases.
The parcel sits directly east of Florida Power & Light's West County Energy Center, one of the largest natural gas power plants in the United States. The plant runs three units producing 3,750 megawatts — enough electricity to power 750,000 homes. For a hyperscale data center, which needs massive, continuous, uninterruptible power, that adjacency isn't a coincidence. It's the entire reason this site was selected.
The actual tenant — the company that will operate the facility and the servers inside it — remains confidential. Under a 2017 Florida statute (section 288.075 of the Florida Statutes) designed to "protect the state's competitive edge," the end user's identity can be shielded from public records during the recruitment phase. PBA Holdings' project manager, Ernie Cox, has declined to publicly identify the operator. Industry analysts have pointed to the major hyperscalers — Amazon, Microsoft, Google, Meta, and Oracle — as the most likely candidates. The Oracle theory gained traction in November 2025, when Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison's family purchased the neighboring Lion Country Safari park, 1.8 miles away. Oracle has declined to comment. Lion Country Safari's spokesperson has stated "with complete certainty that there are no plans to turn any of the property into a data center."
How we got here.
For residents of Loxahatchee and Arden.
Noise
Rudolph Tinker, a political science professor at Palm Beach State College and a licensed general contractor who has built data centers, described the noise this way to the Florida Phoenix: "It's like having your computer running, but you've got a million of them." Hyperscale data centers run 24 hours a day. The cooling systems — whether evaporative towers, chillers, or dry coolers — produce a constant low-frequency hum that travels further than high-frequency noise. Weekly diesel generator testing adds periodic louder events. Massive HVAC stacks, vibration, security lighting, and traffic from service vehicles are continuous.
Water
County filings estimate Project Tango would use approximately 1.7 million gallons of water per month. The exact cooling method has not been disclosed. Closed-loop systems use less water than evaporative towers but rely on chemical treatment. Whatever the system, the water source and discharge plan will be a central issue at the July 15 hearing.
Traffic and construction
The zoning variance granted by the commission reduces required parking from 7,168 spaces to 896 — a 10× reduction that reflects the low headcount of a fully automated facility but raises questions about construction-period traffic on the two-lane roads serving the area. The first phase alone would be a 1.2-million-sq-ft warehouse before any data center goes up.
The school
Saddle View Elementary School opened in August 2025 on former Palm Beach Aggregates land inside the Arden community. The school sits within the 3-mile radius of the proposed facility. A buffer east of the canal separates Arden from the project site.
Organized opposition
The Arden Homeowners' Association has committed to fighting the project and has set aside funds for attorney fees, according to Ben Brown, a member of the Arden HOA board who also sits on the board of the Western Palm Beach Community Alliance — the nonprofit formed in March 2026 to oppose Project Tango. Brown has said that 1000 Friends of Florida, the Sierra Club, and Earthjustice have shown interest in the fight, though none has yet been publicly confirmed as a formal party to the zoning proceeding.
Residents are also organizing online. Two grassroots sites have become clearinghouses for updates, petitions, and local coordination: notoprojecttango.com and stopprojecttango.org. A Facebook page, "Stop the Palm Beach Data Center Project Tango," has roughly 1,500 followers as of mid-April 2026.
Is Oracle the operator?
The question Palm Beach County cannot get answered is whether Larry Ellison and Oracle are behind Project Tango. Here is what is on the public record:
- Ellison's family purchased Lion Country Safari on November 19, 2025 for $30 million — approximately 600 acres including the 254-acre safari park and the KOA campground.
- Oracle announced Project Stargate in January 2025 — a $500 billion commitment to build AI data center infrastructure, with Ellison's specific role focused on the physical campuses.
- The KOA campground will permanently close April 30, 2026. Park attractions including the water park, carousel, train, flying elephant ride, and splash playground have been removed from the official county site plan.
- Oracle said "no comment" when WPTV asked whether Ellison planned to close the park or was involved in Project Tango. Lion Country Safari's spokesperson has stated the park will remain open with no data center plans for that specific property.
- Project Tango is 1.8 miles from Lion Country Safari — close enough to share infrastructure, far enough that Lion Country Safari's denial is technically accurate regardless of who operates Tango.
The 2017 Florida statute that shields the operator's identity is the single most important piece of context. It is the reason the question remains open. Until Project Tango receives final approval or the operator voluntarily discloses, the public has no legal mechanism to compel an answer.
Reporting we relied on.
- Stet News — primary reporting on zoning hearings and the December 10 postponement
- WPTV / WFLX — local broadcast coverage of Lion Country Safari and resident opposition
- Florida Phoenix — analysis of state-level data center policy and community impact
- Palm Beach County Zoning Commission filings — site plans, variance requests, phase breakouts
- CoStar News — Ellison real estate acquisitions and portfolio
- The Drey Dossier — independent investigation into project financing and timing
- Blackridge Research — industry tracking of Florida data center pipeline
Project Tango hearing is July 15. Don't walk in unprepared.
In Okeechobee, 3,000 signatures plus organized public comment forced cancellation on April 23. Loxahatchee is next on the Florida map.
Your Palm Beach Defense Kit is written for your specific address and your specific concerns — your family's health (diesel backup generators, air quality), your well or aquifer water, the 24/7 industrial noise and light, your property value, your FPL bill. It includes a personalized Preparation Brief on Project Tango and what it means for your property, a Palm Beach County public comment letter in your voice ready to submit before July 15, a 2-minute hearing script designed for the July 15 Commission meeting, the seven Palm Beach commissioners and how to reach each, what SB 484 (effective July 1) means for your FPL rates, and the documented well-water, noise, and property-value precedents.
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More on what data centers mean for Florida residents
- Water usage & aquifer impact
- Well water contamination
- Your FPL / Duke / electric bill
- Industrial noise & decibels
- Property value impact
- Health risks & air quality
- Is one near my home?
- HOA & deed restrictions
- Selling a home near a data center
- How to find a proposal
- County commission hearings
- Writing a public comment letter
- How communities stop data centers
- Data centers coming to Florida
- What is a hyperscale data center?