Okee-One data center, Okeechobee, Florida

Okee-One, the data center campus Indian River State College planned on the 205-acre former Florida School for Boys property along U.S. 441 in Okeechobee County, Florida, was canceled in April 2026 after the state pulled its support. At the April 23 county commission meeting, Commissioner Terry Burroughs announced: "IRSC will return almost 50 percent of the money that was in the Rural Infrastructure Funds to the state. The data center is not going to be built."

The college took over the land from the state in 2023 with help from the county and its economic development corporation, and Governor Ron DeSantis awarded it $1.5 million in December 2024 for site preparation. The college billed Okee-One as both a working data center and a training lab for its students.

In February 2026, IRSC's Andrew Treadwell told commissioners the first data center would use 9 to 10 megawatts, the most Florida Power & Light said the site could support, and that demolition of the old reform school buildings would begin in March. He said the college was exploring on-site generation to "fire up more of the site," and mentioned Nvidia while saying he could not break nondisclosure agreements.

Those remarks alarmed residents. A petition against the project neared 2,000 signatures, and residents filled the April 9 commission meeting. "This town is more than just open land on a map. It's our home. And once we give that up, we won't get it back", said resident Korinne Curren. "Is there something to protect the citizens from it becoming a mega data center?" asked Elizabeth Canright.

The site carries its own history: the Okeechobee reform school, where students were systematically abused, was the sister campus of the Dozier School for Boys in Marianna.

Then the state reversed itself. The Florida Department of Commerce declined a second round of funding and accused the college of misleading it. "After further review, it became clear that (the college)'s plans, much like the data center industry around the nation, is based on falsehoods and pretenses about energy and water," department spokesperson Emily Hetherington said.

College President Timothy Moore said the governor "would be mistaken" and that the campus was meant as a training site. The same day Okee-One was declared dead, commissioners voted to drop "Special Technology Opportunity Centers," a proposed comprehensive plan designation that would have opened county land to data centers, and the crowd applauded.

Florida's new data center law, SB 484, requires data centers to pay for their own utilities without shifting costs to customers, but lets companies keep their plans confidential for a year, and it leaves land use decisions to local governments.

The college has held the property since 2023, and county officials say they do not control what happens there. "Whether it be this one or any other when it may want to come to town, we're going to do our due diligence", said David Hazellief, chairman of the Okeechobee County Board of County Commissioners. Other parts of the county's comprehensive plan update remain in hearings.