Nassau County is considering putting a pause on data center development projects within its borders.
At its April 13 meeting, the Nassau County Board of County Commissioners directed County Attorney Denise May to draft an ordinance that would place a one-year moratorium on the development of data centers within the unincorporated county boundary.
If adopted, the temporary action would pause the acceptance and processing of new applications for data center development projects. County officials say the move will provide them time to evaluate the overall scale, intensity and potential impacts of data center development in the county. That includes consideration of land use compatibility, infrastructure demands and long-term community priorities.
“At this time, there are no active or pending applications for data center development in unincorporated Nassau County, however this is a proactive approach to ensure appropriate standards are in place moving forward,” an April 14 county news release stated.
The proposed moratorium comes after Miami-based NextNRG issued a news release announcing it had secured a long-term lease option on an unspecified property in Nassau County. The company outlined plans for a 200-megawatt smart microgrid on roughly 1,200 acres near Jacksonville International Airport, with the remaining 400 acres described as “ideal” for hyperscale data center development, citing access to power, water and fiber internet.
After the news release prompted concern and speculation among community residents, the county issued a statement April 6: “We are aware of speculation regarding a proposed data center near the Jacksonville airport, possibly within Nassau County. At this time, neither the Board of County Commissioners nor any member of its staff has knowledge of this project outside of a press release issued by NextNRG.”
The county said it had contacted multiple economic development partners, none of whom had knowledge of the project, and had attempted to reach NextNRG without receiving a response.
No civil engineer, architect or landowner has been publicly associated with the proposal.
In an April 7 statement, NextNRG wrote: “NextNRG is not able to comment regarding the status of any specific projects at this time. We are committed to working through the appropriate local processes and engaging with communities and stakeholders as plans evolve.”
At the April 13 meeting, Commissioners John Martin and A.M. Huppmann called the project a “non-data center, data center.”
“I know all my colleagues are getting emails about it. If you’re on social media, specifically Facebook, you hear about 1,600 acres of land that have been leased in Nassau County by a company called NextNRG for a data center here in Nassau County,” Martin said.
“That’s not true. It’s just not true. Has the land been leased? Yes, we believe that to be true. Through our county manager, we finally confirmed that to be true. But it was because we had to do a lot of digging to find out about it.”
In an April 8 email to the county planning department, NextNRG Microgrid Deployment Manager James Scrivener wrote that the company’s September release was designed to focus on an upcoming microgrid project and that the data center component was “noted as a future possibility given the site’s power and infrastructure” — not an active development.
Scrivener also said NextNRG’s engagement with Nassau County goes back several years. He said the company had met with county officials on multiple occasions and had been working with JEA since 2022, including completed interconnection studies.
A draft ordinance for the proposed moratorium is expected to be presented for discussion at the commission’s next meeting at 5 p.m. April 27, followed by two required public hearings scheduled for 5 p.m. May 11 and June 8 in commission chambers at 96135 Nassau Place in Yulee.
A vote is expected to follow at a subsequent meeting of the full commission.
Founded in 2016, NextNRG focuses on renewable energy, microgrids and mobile fueling services. Its CEO, Michael Farkas, also founded Blink Charging, an electric vehicle charging equipment and services company. In December 2025, the company reported 253% year-over-year revenue growth at $8.1 million.
In February, the Florida Senate passed legislation regulating AI data centers to manage their effects on energy costs and water usage. Scheduled to take effect July 1, the law would require public utilities to create specific tariffs for large energy users to shield residential customers from higher bills. It also gives developers a 12-month confidentiality period while mandating early public notification of new projects.