Volusia County Council set to vote on ban of large-scale data centers

Volusia County Council members are expected to take a final vote Tuesday on an ordinance that would ban large-scale data centers in unincorporated areas of the county.The proposal would prohibit data centers with an anticipated monthly peak electrical load of at least 50 megawatts. It would not apply within cities, which retain authority over their own land-use and zoning decisions.Council members voted unanimously to advance the ordinance at its first reading Oct. 6. The county began pursuing the ban in August, citing concerns about data centers’ potential demands on water and electricity, noise and effects on nearby communities. The county has not accepted new applications for large-scale data centers in unincorporated areas since Aug. 17.Commissioner David Santiago said before the final vote that residents and officials have concerns about water use, electricity use and whether a data center is feasible given the county’s limited amount of available land.“There’s a lot of uncertaint