Nassau County’s fact-finding committee on data center development has entered its drafting phase, with a 30-day window to produce recommendations during the county’s 12-month moratorium.
The Board of County Commissioners, which established the committee, unanimously approved the moratorium June 8.
At its June 29 meeting, the committee discussed a draft goal framework focused on preserving Nassau County’s rural character while directing data center facilities to appropriate locations — the first concrete policy language to emerge from the process.
The committee plans a site visit to the Atlanta metro area to observe data center operations firsthand before finalizing its recommendations. A legal analysis of Florida Senate Bill 484, which addresses jurisdictional data center regulations, is scheduled for June 30.
The moratorium came after the Jacksonville Daily Record reported April 6 that Miami-based NextNRG had secured a long-term lease option on 1,600 acres along the U.S. 301 corridor.
NextNRG had previously outlined plans for a 200-megawatt smart microgrid on about 1,200 acres near Jacksonville International Airport, with the remaining 400 acres described as “ideal” for hyperscale data center development.
In an April 8 email to Nassau County Manager Taco Pope ahead of the moratorium vote, NextNRG Microgrid Deployment Manager James Scrivener stated he was reaching out “directly following the Jacksonville Daily Record article” and acknowledged the county was “fielding questions from residents and colleagues.”
The committee’s recommendations will go to the Board of County Commissioners, which will hold public hearings before adopting any permanent regulations for data center development in unincorporated Nassau County.