Why Polk County is Very High risk
Score calculated from four factors: power infrastructure, water capacity, land availability, and current exposure. Polk scores 82/100 — the Fort Meade approval in April 2026 moved it from High to Very High.
Major in-county power generation (≥1,500 MW). Duke Energy's Hines Complex is the power source for the Fort Meade project.
Southwest Florida Water Management District — growing population, rising water stress. Fort Meade's water permit requires separate SWFWMD approval.
Urban/suburban mix. Few large parcels outside the phosphate-mine lands already being converted.
Fort Meade hyperscale AI campus — approved April 2026 on former phosphate land. 4.4M sq ft at buildout, 1.2 GW power demand.
The facts, as filed.
Fort Meade's leap of faith.
Fort Meade is a city of 5,300 residents in south Polk County, about 45 minutes southeast of Tampa. The city's economy has historically centered on phosphate mining. The 1,300-acre parcel targeted for the data center campus is former phosphate mine land west of US-98 — a vast, flat, already-disturbed industrial site. Location, infrastructure access, and proximity to Duke Energy's Hines Energy Complex made it attractive to Stonebridge, a Maryland-based developer working under the Florida entity Bohler Places LLC.
On April 15, 2026, city commissioners approved a 20-year development agreement for the campus. Stonebridge principal Douglas Firstenberg told commissioners the project would deliver up to eight data center buildings, groundbreaking by end of 2026, operations beginning in 2028. The campus will require 1.2 gigawatts of electricity to operate — roughly the power demand of the city of Tallahassee, twice over.
Vice Mayor Petrina McCutchen described the decision as "a leap of faith." Forty of 41 public commenters spoke against the project. Many said they only learned the decision had effectively been made under a previous administration. Resident Verna Moyer told the commission: "I'm going to cry. I'll be honest, I don't know what I'm going to do. I want to retire here. I raised my children here. My house is paid for, but I don't want to live near a data center."
City officials defended the vote on economic grounds: $10 million committed by Stonebridge to local infrastructure (paid in two phases), a 10-year, $150-million tax incentive package against $2.6+ billion in planned real estate and equipment investment, and an estimated 450 permanent jobs averaging $107,000/year — well above the Polk County median. Planning Chair Richard Cason, explaining his yes vote, said of the environmental and health concerns raised by residents: "They will have to abide by OSHA, EPA, as well as the oversight of the committee, the city. So I'm in favor of recommending it to the commissioners."
The project is not a done deal. Stonebridge must still secure water-use and construction permits from the Southwest Florida Water Management District (SWFWMD), which quietly changed its policy for data center water permitting last year. In a letter obtained by the Tampa Bay Times, SWFWMD informed Fort Meade that the city's current water permit cannot supply the data center — Stonebridge's request must be approved separately by the district's full governing board at a public meeting. As of mid-April 2026, Stonebridge had not applied.
How we got here.
For Fort Meade and Polk County.
Electricity
The campus needs 1.2 gigawatts of power. Fort Meade residents currently receive their power through the Florida Municipal Power Agency. The data center will be served separately by Duke Energy's Hines Complex. In theory this means residential rates should not rise to pay for the data center. In practice, utility grid upgrades to accommodate a 1.2 GW load have historically been partially socialized across ratepayers in other states. Florida's SB 484, if it becomes law this summer, would explicitly prohibit that cost-shifting — but the bill's effective date is July 1, 2026, after several key Stonebridge permitting milestones.
Water
Stonebridge has reduced its projected daily water use from an initial 150,000 gallons to 50,000 gallons after committing to a closed-loop cooling system. The city has agreed to reserve that 50,000 gallons per day. Firstenberg told commissioners the water would be used "mainly for restrooms and kitchens rather than cooling" — a significant claim that requires permitting agencies to verify. The SWFWMD still has to approve the permit. Christina Reichert, senior attorney for Earthjustice, has noted that "these promises from the developer don't line up with real world experience."
Noise and air
Developers say the nearest residence is about half a mile from the nearest planned building. A 1.2-gigawatt facility typically requires a matching 1.2 gigawatts of backup generation — diesel or natural gas generators that run during power interruptions and are tested regularly. Christina Reichert described the scale: "Think about how many generators would be required to power the entire city of Tallahassee times two. That's how much we're talking about here." Some cooling systems use perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) or related "forever chemicals" linked to cancer and other health complications.
Jobs and tax revenue
Stonebridge projects 450 permanent positions averaging $107,000/year — a meaningful figure in a city whose median household income is well below that. Critics note that hyperscale data centers employ relatively few workers per square foot compared to other industrial uses, and that the tax incentive package ($150M over 10 years) meaningfully reduces the near-term revenue benefit to the city.
Reporting we relied on.
- Tampa Bay Times — SWFWMD water rule reporting and DeSantis administration response
- Fox 13 Tampa Bay — April 15 Fort Meade City Commission meeting coverage
- Bay News 9 / Spectrum News — pre- and post-approval coverage, resident interviews
- WUSF (Tampa NPR) — expert analysis from Earthjustice attorney Christina Reichert
- Propmodo — commercial real estate framing and development agreement details
- Blackridge Research — developer-side project data (Stonebridge / Bohler Places LLC)
- Fort Meade City Commission meeting minutes and agenda packets
Fort Meade is approved. The next proposal is coming.
Fort Meade's 4.4 million-sq-ft complex got unanimous approval on April 15 with minimal notice to residents. Polk County has more former phosphate land, more high-voltage corridors, and more vulnerable rural communities like it.
Your Polk County Defense Kit is written for your address and your specific concerns — your family's health (diesel backup generators at a facility that size, air quality), your well or municipal water, the 24/7 industrial noise and light, your property value, your Duke Energy bill. It includes a Preparation Brief on what Fort Meade means for nearby properties and what the next proposal could look like, a public comment letter in your voice formatted for the Polk County Commission or relevant municipal body, a 2-minute hearing script, your county and state contacts, and what Florida's 2026 data center laws protect you from.
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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?