August 6, 2026 • 5 mins
Ryan, Dana, and Chris Trenkmann discuss Hillsborough County's move toward a moratorium on AI data center developments and the concerns driving the proposed pause.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
The Ryan Gorman Show podcast, presented by Verah and Farah
accident attorneys from Tampa.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
Good morning, Chris, Good morning.
Speaker 3 (00:09):
Hillsboro County commissioners voted unanimously to draft a moratorium on
artificial intelligence data centers and develop land use rules that
could bar future facilities from using county drinking water for
the cooling of these facilities.
Speaker 4 (00:25):
I got to be honest with you, as much as
I use AI these days, I would give up some
of my drinking water. I try to get about eighty
ounces in a day. I would cut that back into
about you know ten.
Speaker 2 (00:36):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (00:37):
Yeah, if it meant making sure I get my chantchipt, yeah, maybe,
you know, cut the flushing of these times too. Commissioner
Donna Cameron Sepada said she initially wanted the county to
adopt an immediate five year moratorium, as some other cities
have done, but she revised that proposal after getting a
briefing from the county Attorney's office, who said that they
(00:59):
may want to take some more time to review the plan. Yeah,
there's this whole thing. It's tied to the land use rules.
Speaker 2 (01:08):
It's complicated.
Speaker 4 (01:09):
We're not going to spend time breaking down this Senate
bill that's at the center of it all. But essentially,
the county attorney said, you know, an immediate moratorium might
have to wait until I think it's October of twenty
twenty seven before we could put something in place. But
it doesn't mean a county has to allow a data
center to be built.
Speaker 3 (01:29):
Yeah, but other communities to put in immediate moratoriums. So, right,
what's the problem with Hillsbrand.
Speaker 4 (01:35):
And they've got an attorney who's a little more cautious
maybe I don't know, but the county staff they said
that there are no data center applications pending, and I
guess residents got win that there could be one near
this one area in Hillsborough County and they're like, what's
going on there?
Speaker 2 (01:52):
And there's nothing coming there.
Speaker 4 (01:54):
And we've seen that a couple of times where I
guess these rumors pop up that there's going to be
a data center around the corner and people start to
freak out. Yeah, they're like, wait, what what's going on?
But it turns out that these projects are real, well
some of them are, yeah, not all of them have been.
Some of them are, I think the Lakeland one that's
the project Swan the six hundred thousand is that square
(02:17):
foot more than a rumor?
Speaker 2 (02:20):
Yeah? Yeah.
Speaker 4 (02:21):
That was one where they hadn't even talked about it
in ne their meetings yet, and residents went and started
telling them, Hey, well people were talking about it.
Speaker 2 (02:28):
Yeah, right, you need to put a stop to this.
Speaker 4 (02:32):
Now, Hillsborough County, if it were to enact a moratorium,
would be the biggest county to do so so far.
I mean a lot of counties and municipalities have done
moratoriums up to this point, but Hillsborough County be the
biggest one.
Speaker 3 (02:43):
Yeah. And Hillsborough County is such a large county that
there are plenty of areas where these could be placed.
Speaker 2 (02:49):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (02:50):
You know, some cities obviously don't have necessarily the space
for a six hundred thousand square foot facility, but Hillsborough
County's got plenty of space, and that's why they have
to look at this carefully.
Speaker 2 (02:59):
There are a couple of issues here.
Speaker 3 (03:01):
One of the commissioners brought up the water use using
drinking water, which is, as we've seen, starting to become
a limited supply to cool these enormous facilities because that
equipment gets hot. The other issue that was brought up
by Commissioner Joshua Walstall, was that they could create environmental problems,
including for wildlife that may be sensitive to the mechanical noise, vibrations.
Speaker 2 (03:26):
And other issues there.
Speaker 3 (03:27):
So you have two commissioners bringing up complaints and they suggested,
you know, they would want an immediate moratorium on this,
but they did vote in favor of the plan to
look at a moratorium. So it was a unanimous vote
to put some sort of plan in place down the road.
Speaker 4 (03:45):
I do have an idea for Hillsborough County instead of
constantly trying to push toilet to tap onto all of
its residents, then maybe toilet to data center or something
like that.
Speaker 2 (03:57):
Oh, try that instead. I would add to the smell
over there.
Speaker 4 (04:04):
But the noise, it's not just an issue potentially for
a wildlife. That's one of the concerns that people have too.
Speaker 5 (04:09):
Yeah, there's a data center in Virginia that they built
and people have to put mattresses up in their doorways
and windows. Yes, it was on News Nation.
Speaker 2 (04:18):
Brian Enton did the report.
Speaker 5 (04:20):
They built this massive data center right across the street
from a residential neighborhood and the noise is insane. They
had little noise meter on their report and people with
the mattress in the windows. Yeah, I couldn't even imagine that.
Speaker 2 (04:34):
And this is becoming a political issue.
Speaker 4 (04:36):
You know, we're going to talk about Abdul Lsied, that
Michigan Centate candidate in a moment. But yesterday when he
was talking, he said, Mike Rogers, his opponent Republican back
by Trump. He's like, Mike Rodgers wants to build the
data center right in your backyard. Just threw it out there,
and you know, this is where you're going to hear
from politicians. That's what they're going to start saying about
their opponents. That's a pro data center guy right there.
Speaker 2 (04:57):
Oh did they make an AI ad of him?
Speaker 5 (04:59):
Actually he's saying that he's gonna build the data center.
Speaker 4 (05:02):
It's funny because else I had he alluded to that.
So the backstory is Mike Rogers' staff they created this
image of him through AI. Mike Rogers is you know
older guy. They made him look like the incredible Hault.
Speaker 2 (05:15):
Oh that guy.
Speaker 4 (05:16):
Okay, yes, and and so else I had was alluding
to the fact, like, hey, he loves AI. They made
that that picture of him. He wants to put a
data center right in your backyard. I thought it was
actually a pretty good line.
Speaker 1 (05:30):
Ye make the Ryan Gorman Show podcast Up We set
on iHeartRadio, presented by Farah and Farah Accident Attorneys, Tampa,
The Ryan Gorman Show podcast, presented by Verah and Farah
accident attorneys from Tampa.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
Good morning, Chris, Good morning.
Speaker 3 (00:09):
Hillsboro County commissioners voted unanimously to draft a moratorium on
artificial intelligence data centers and develop land use rules that
could bar future facilities from using county drinking water for
the cooling of these facilities.
Speaker 4 (00:25):
I got to be honest with you, as much as
I use AI these days, I would give up some
of my drinking water. I try to get about eighty
ounces in a day. I would cut that back into
about you know ten.
Speaker 2 (00:36):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (00:37):
Yeah, if it meant making sure I get my chantchipt, yeah, maybe,
you know, cut the flushing of these times too. Commissioner
Donna Cameron Sepada said she initially wanted the county to
adopt an immediate five year moratorium, as some other cities
have done, but she revised that proposal after getting a
briefing from the county Attorney's office, who said that they
(00:59):
may want to take some more time to review the plan. Yeah,
there's this whole thing. It's tied to the land use rules.
Speaker 2 (01:08):
It's complicated.
Speaker 4 (01:09):
We're not going to spend time breaking down this Senate
bill that's at the center of it all. But essentially,
the county attorney said, you know, an immediate moratorium might
have to wait until I think it's October of twenty
twenty seven before we could put something in place. But
it doesn't mean a county has to allow a data
center to be built.
Speaker 3 (01:29):
Yeah, but other communities to put in immediate moratoriums. So, right,
what's the problem with Hillsbrand.
Speaker 4 (01:35):
And they've got an attorney who's a little more cautious
maybe I don't know, but the county staff they said
that there are no data center applications pending, and I
guess residents got win that there could be one near
this one area in Hillsborough County and they're like, what's
going on there?
Speaker 2 (01:52):
And there's nothing coming there.
Speaker 4 (01:54):
And we've seen that a couple of times where I
guess these rumors pop up that there's going to be
a data center around the corner and people start to
freak out. Yeah, they're like, wait, what what's going on?
But it turns out that these projects are real, well
some of them are, yeah, not all of them have been.
Some of them are, I think the Lakeland one that's
the project Swan the six hundred thousand is that square
(02:17):
foot more than a rumor?
Speaker 2 (02:20):
Yeah? Yeah.
Speaker 4 (02:21):
That was one where they hadn't even talked about it
in ne their meetings yet, and residents went and started
telling them, Hey, well people were talking about it.
Speaker 2 (02:28):
Yeah, right, you need to put a stop to this.
Speaker 4 (02:32):
Now, Hillsborough County, if it were to enact a moratorium,
would be the biggest county to do so so far.
I mean a lot of counties and municipalities have done
moratoriums up to this point, but Hillsborough County be the
biggest one.
Speaker 3 (02:43):
Yeah. And Hillsborough County is such a large county that
there are plenty of areas where these could be placed.
Speaker 2 (02:49):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (02:50):
You know, some cities obviously don't have necessarily the space
for a six hundred thousand square foot facility, but Hillsborough
County's got plenty of space, and that's why they have
to look at this carefully.
Speaker 2 (02:59):
There are a couple of issues here.
Speaker 3 (03:01):
One of the commissioners brought up the water use using
drinking water, which is, as we've seen, starting to become
a limited supply to cool these enormous facilities because that
equipment gets hot. The other issue that was brought up
by Commissioner Joshua Walstall, was that they could create environmental problems,
including for wildlife that may be sensitive to the mechanical noise, vibrations.
Speaker 2 (03:26):
And other issues there.
Speaker 3 (03:27):
So you have two commissioners bringing up complaints and they suggested,
you know, they would want an immediate moratorium on this,
but they did vote in favor of the plan to
look at a moratorium. So it was a unanimous vote
to put some sort of plan in place down the road.
Speaker 4 (03:45):
I do have an idea for Hillsborough County instead of
constantly trying to push toilet to tap onto all of
its residents, then maybe toilet to data center or something
like that.
Speaker 2 (03:57):
Oh, try that instead. I would add to the smell
over there.
Speaker 4 (04:04):
But the noise, it's not just an issue potentially for
a wildlife. That's one of the concerns that people have too.
Speaker 5 (04:09):
Yeah, there's a data center in Virginia that they built
and people have to put mattresses up in their doorways
and windows. Yes, it was on News Nation.
Speaker 2 (04:18):
Brian Enton did the report.
Speaker 5 (04:20):
They built this massive data center right across the street
from a residential neighborhood and the noise is insane. They
had little noise meter on their report and people with
the mattress in the windows. Yeah, I couldn't even imagine that.
Speaker 2 (04:34):
And this is becoming a political issue.
Speaker 4 (04:36):
You know, we're going to talk about Abdul Lsied, that
Michigan Centate candidate in a moment. But yesterday when he
was talking, he said, Mike Rogers, his opponent Republican back
by Trump. He's like, Mike Rodgers wants to build the
data center right in your backyard. Just threw it out there,
and you know, this is where you're going to hear
from politicians. That's what they're going to start saying about
their opponents. That's a pro data center guy right there.
Speaker 2 (04:57):
Oh did they make an AI ad of him?
Speaker 5 (04:59):
Actually he's saying that he's gonna build the data center.
Speaker 4 (05:02):
It's funny because else I had he alluded to that.
So the backstory is Mike Rogers' staff they created this
image of him through AI. Mike Rogers is you know
older guy. They made him look like the incredible Hault.
Speaker 2 (05:15):
Oh that guy.
Speaker 4 (05:16):
Okay, yes, and and so else I had was alluding
to the fact, like, hey, he loves AI. They made
that that picture of him. He wants to put a
data center right in your backyard. I thought it was
actually a pretty good line.
Speaker 1 (05:30):
Ye make the Ryan Gorman Show podcast Up We set
on iHeartRadio, presented by Farah and Farah Accident Attorneys, Tampa,
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