Putnam County FL data center moratorium (2026)
Putnam County, Florida — One-Year Moratorium on Medium and Large Scale Data Center Projects, Approved Unanimously on Second Reading After Adopting a Definition of the Use (September 8, 2026)
Putnam County, FL · Putnam County, Fla. — moratorium on medium and large scale data center projects (second reading approved September 8, 2026; runs to September 2027)
- Status
- In effect
- Expires
- September 30, 2027
- Applies to
- Developers of medium and large scale data center projects seeking county approvals in Putnam County, Florida
- Enforced by
- Putnam County Planning and Development Services / Putnam County Board of County Commissioners
Putnam County commissioners unanimously approved the second reading of a temporary ban on medium and large scale data center projects on Tuesday, September 8, 2026. The ban runs until September 2027. One procedural detail is worth noticing: before voting, the commissioners established a definition for the covered sites. A moratorium on a use that the county code does not define is difficult to enforce, and Putnam County dealt with that first — a sequencing choice several other jurisdictions in this dataset skipped and had to revisit. Putnam acted the same week as Levy County, which adopted Ordinance 2026-05 on September 8 as well, and both sit within a broader Florida pattern that began in mid-2026: Sarasota County adopted a one-year hyperscale moratorium in July, DeSoto County moved toward one, and Lakeland approved a one-year moratorium on first reading on July 21, 2026. The precise definition Putnam adopted — the megawatt or square-footage line separating 'medium and large scale' from smaller facilities — was not published in the coverage located, and neither was a final-adoption confirmation, so this entry is recorded as enacted rather than effective and should be rechecked.
Who is protected: Putnam County, Florida residents and ratepayers; county water, power and road infrastructure
Legal detail
Putnam County, Fla. — moratorium on medium and large scale data center projects, unanimously approved on SECOND READING by the Board of County Commissioners on Tuesday, September 8, 2026, running until September 2027. SEQUENCING NOTE: commissioners established a DEFINITION for the covered sites before approving the moratorium. This matters operationally — a moratorium keyed to a use the land development code does not define invites argument about what is covered, and several jurisdictions have had to amend after the fact. STATUS IS `enacted` NOT `effective`, AND effective_date IS NULL, FOR A STATED REASON: the located reporting describes a second-reading approval and expressly flags that a further procedural step may be required before the moratorium becomes fully effective. Florida county ordinances are ordinarily adopted at a single advertised public hearing, so the second reading may well BE adoption — but no located source confirms it, and this dataset does not assert an effective date it cannot support. THE ADOPTED DEFINITION WAS NOT PUBLISHED in any located coverage: the megawatt or floor-area line separating 'medium and large scale' from smaller facilities is the single most important missing fact on this entry. FLORIDA CONTEXT: Levy County adopted Ordinance 2026-05 the same day (Levy County FL data center moratorium Ord. 2026-05 (2026)); Sarasota County adopted a one-year hyperscale moratorium in July 2026; DeSoto County moved toward one; Lakeland approved a one-year moratorium on first reading July 21, 2026.
Key facts
| Jurisdiction | Putnam County, FL |
|---|---|
| Level | County |
| Strength | Moderate |
| Enacted | September 8, 2026 |
| Citation | Putnam County, Fla. — moratorium on medium and large scale data center projects (second reading approved September 8, 2026; runs to September 2027) |
| Private right of action | No, agency enforcement only |
| Penalties | Covered data center projects may not be approved during the moratorium |
| Topics | data-center siting and energy · consumer protection · government use of AI |
| News report | Putnam County approves moratorium on large-scale data center projects — WCJB |
Related data-center siting and energy rules elsewhere
- Superior WI Data Center Moratorium (1-year) · In effect
- Dane County WI Hyperscale Data Center Moratorium · In effect
- Madison WI Data Center Moratorium (1-year) · In effect
- Manitowoc County WI Data Center Moratorium · In effect
- WA SB 5982 (Data Center / Clean Energy) · In effect
- Dayton OH data center moratorium (180-day, Apr 2026) · In effect
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