Volusia County Council Votes 6-1 on First Reading to Ban Large Data Centers in Unincorporated Areas

The Volusia County Council, in Florida, voted 6-1 on Oct. 6 in favor of prohibiting large data centers in the parts of the county directly under its jurisdiction. The action was on the first reading of an ordinance banning data centers whose peak usage of electric power would be 50 million watts or more. Council Member Danny Robins was the lone dissenter.

The rights of local governments to regulate data centers are affirmed in Senate Bill 484, which the Florida Legislature approved and Gov. Ron DeSantis signed earlier this year. Critics warned that the withdrawal of too much water from underground may also result in sinkholes.

Context: one more local ban or pause in the autumn run of county-level data center restrictions; compare 2026-09-22–pima-county-az-120-day-data-center-moratorium and 2026-09-23–marshall-county-ia-six-month-data-center-moratorium-unanimous-vote.