Auburndale Data Center That Could Draw 700 Megawatts Packs a City Workshop as Hillsborough Puts Off Its Moratorium Vote

Hundreds of residents packed a special workshop in Auburndale on Tuesday night, Nov. 10, to question developers of a proposed hyperscale data center on Pace Road that could eventually draw as much as 700 megawatts of electricity from Tampa Electric, roughly the demand of 350,000 to 500,000 homes, according to Fox 13. The project, called the Auburndale Technology Center, is moving forward in Polk County as Hillsborough County commissioners postponed a decision on a one-year moratorium on such facilities.

What is planned in Auburndale

The data center would occupy two existing warehouses at 810 and 820 Pace Road, on a 75-acre parcel south of Interstate 4 and east of the Polk Parkway, near Florida Polytechnic University and inside the 3,000-acre Central Florida Innovation District, WFLA reported. The developer is Pace Road DC Development LLC, an entity tied to Texas-based Hillwood, which bought the property in December 2025.

Hillwood says the first phase would require about 350 megawatts, rising to as much as 700 megawatts at full build-out. The developer estimates the facility would use about 4,665 gallons of potable water a day with a closed-loop cooling system that recirculates the same fluid, which it says is less water than the warehouses were previously allocated. It has said noise would be limited to 50 decibels at the property line, that the project would create 292 permanent jobs and that it would generate about $1 billion in tax revenue for the city over 15 years, according to Fox 13 and Bay News 9. The developer also said it is not seeking financial incentives. No operator or tenant has been named.

How the project got here

Much of the approval process happened before most residents knew a data center was possible on the site. The timeline, as reported by Fox 13 and WFLA:

With the zoning already in place, the project is going through the permitting process, which includes review of the plans by city staff and additional work by agencies outside the City Commission, according to the reports. Some current commissioners said they were not in office when the original land use decisions were made, Fox 13 reported.

What residents and city leaders said

Residents at the workshop pressed the developer and Tampa Electric on power demand, who would pay for new grid infrastructure, water use, noise and property values. Resident Teresa Detweiler told Fox 13 that families put their life savings into their homes and worried a data center could cut values by 10%.

City Commissioner Sean Levy was blunt. "I will not allow a rubber stamp process to jeopardize our resources, economy or the peace of our schools," he said, according to Fox 13.

City Manager Jeffrey Brown told Bay News 9 that the developer is working with the city on compliance with state law and local requirements and that staff will hold the developer to its stated commitments. "We're here to make sure that this project fits well into the community," Brown said. Magdalene Dupree, founder of the grassroots group Defund Oligarchy, told the station she opposes data centers but wants any deal to include a compensation fund for possible health effects and housing displacement and a dividend for nearby residents. Those ideas are not part of the current plans.

The power question

Tampa Electric would serve the site, but the utility's large-load tariff still needs approval from the Florida Public Service Commission. The company filed that tariff on Sept. 30 to accommodate up to 1,000 megawatts of new demand, and a decision is expected early next year, executives of parent company Emera said on a third-quarter earnings call last week. They said Tampa Electric is working toward a contract by year-end for the first 350 megawatts at the Auburndale site, is confident it could deliver up to 700 megawatts there, and is discussing whether the site could reach 1,000 megawatts. The company's chief financial officer said connecting the first 350 megawatts would take incremental infrastructure investment in the tens of millions of dollars.

Developers and city officials have pointed to Senate Bill 484, a Florida law that requires data centers to cover their own electricity and infrastructure costs so those costs are not shifted onto other customers. How that protection is written into utility tariffs is still being settled. Last week the PSC rejected Duke Energy Florida's proposed data center tariff as too risky for consumers.

Hillsborough waits for its new board

Across the county line, Hillsborough County commissioners voted 6-0 this week to postpone a vote on a proposed one-year moratorium on artificial intelligence data centers until two newly elected members take office, Florida Politics reported. Commissioner Gwen Myers requested the delay over the objections of Commissioner Donna Cameron Cepeda, who proposed the moratorium and is leaving the board. Cameron Cepeda's attempt to force an immediate vote failed for lack of a second. She lost her Republican primary to Stacy Hahn, whom Democrat Neil Manimala defeated in the Nov. 3 general election. No new date was set.

The moratorium would pause data center development while the county writes rules on water supply, infrastructure, noise, vibration and effects on neighboring properties. Staff outlined possible requirements that data centers use reclaimed water for cooling instead of groundwater. The commission voted unanimously in August to begin drafting the moratorium and to explore limits on using county drinking water to cool the facilities. County attorneys recommended limiting it to one year instead of the five years first proposed, citing legal concerns about long restrictions on private property.

County staff said there are no pending data center applications in unincorporated Hillsborough. The facilities are not allowed under the county's standard zoning districts and would require a planned development approval, a process that takes at least six months. The Tampa City Council is separately considering its own moratorium.

A regional pattern

The Auburndale and Hillsborough debates follow similar fights elsewhere in Central and Southwest Florida. Lake County extended its data center moratorium through June 2027 last month, and DeSoto County commissioners have deadlocked on rezonings for AI data centers near Arcadia. Auburndale's case differs in that the land use approvals allowing a data center were granted in 2023, before the current wave of local opposition, leaving permit reviews as the main remaining local step.

What's next

Auburndale staff must still review the developer's building permit application and site plan. Tampa Electric's large-load tariff is pending before the PSC, with a decision expected early in 2027, and the utility is aiming to sign a contract for the first 350 megawatts by the end of this year. In Hillsborough, the moratorium will return to a reconstituted commission at a date to be set after the new members are sworn in.