T+2 county moratorium wave / Clark County IN 1-year proposed Jul 3 Bryan Glover / Whitley County IN active moratorium state-law authorized 1-year while ordinance drafted / Lakeland FL first reading Jul 6 9 AM 12-month moratorium > 50 MW/month final vote Jul 20 / neighboring Zephyrhills FL 1-year Jun 24 / 6 moratorium actions single week / highest single-week friction load 2026 / FL SB 484 July 1 producing city-cluster moratorium pattern / Cliff forecast: 5-10 day post-state-event window

Plain-English background on why county moratoriums matter more than they look. A county moratorium is a temporary local ordinance that suspends new development permits or rezoning applications for a specific category of use (in this case, data centers) for a defined period (typically 6-24 months). Every state has slightly different rules for how counties can enact them: Iowa, Indiana, Maryland, and Florida all authorize them by state statute; the specific procedure varies (some require public hearing, some require supermajority, some cap duration). But the practical effect is the same: for the duration of the moratorium, no new data center development application in the covered geography can be filed, processed, or approved. Projects already in the pipeline are typically grandfathered; new ones are frozen. Why county moratoriums matter as a durable friction channel. They require zero signatures, minimal budget, and no distribution requirement (unlike statewide ballot initiatives). They require 3-5 elected county commissioners to vote yes on a single evening after a public hearing. They are politically low-cost for commissioners because residential ratepayers vote and hyperscalers don't. They generate substantial political-narrative payoff (local newspaper coverage, resident testimony, 'we listened to the community' framing). Yesterday's Cliff Daily noted Linn County IA (18-month freeze, 2-1 vote July 1) and Washington County MD (12-month freeze doubled from 6 on the floor, 4-1 vote July 1). Today the ledger extends further. **Clark County Indiana — 1-year moratorium proposed at July 3 commissioners' meeting.** Clark County Commissioner President Bryan Glover raised the moratorium proposal at the end of yesterday's meeting (moved early to accommodate the July 4 holiday weekend). He is asking for the other commissioners' agreement to formally request that the planning and zoning board review the county's unified development ordinance and recommend a 1-year moratorium at the next planning commission meeting. The stated rationale: 'extra time to review the development ordinance and what it means for data centers.' This is the standard procedural setup — a commissioner floats the moratorium at a public meeting, generates local newspaper coverage, and puts it on the planning commission's agenda for a formal recommendation. From proposal to enactment is typically 60-90 days in Indiana. Clark County is directly across the Ohio River from Louisville KY and sits inside MISO-adjacent territory that has been actively courted by hyperscalers looking to route around ERCOT and PJM friction. **Whitley County Indiana — state-law-authorized moratorium already in effect.** Whitley County (northeast Indiana, county seat Columbia City, about 20 miles west of Fort Wayne) has enacted a 1-year moratorium on data centers under Indiana's state statute that authorizes counties to enact temporary moratoriums for up to a year while a zoning code is drafted. The Whitley County Plan Commission is now actively drafting a zoning code and held a listening session with heavy community turnout. Community concerns focus on energy demand — one speaker cited an estimate that a single cloud data center could consume 100% of current Whitley County electrical capacity. **Lakeland Florida — 12-month moratorium first reading Monday July 6, final vote July 20.** The Lakeland City Commission will hold the first reading Monday July 6 at 9 AM at 228 S. Massachusetts Avenue on Ordinance to establish a 12-month moratorium on any data center or 'large load electric customer' using more than 50 MW/month. The moratorium covers acceptance, processing, review, and approval of applications for Development Permits, Development Orders, and other City approvals for data center establishment, construction, expansion, or intensification. Final vote is scheduled July 20. The public purpose per the city notice: 'preserve the status quo while the City evaluates appropriate land use classifications, development standards, infrastructure requirements, and utility impacts.' This is the first Florida city-level moratorium action following Florida SB 484 taking effect Wednesday July 1, and it validates the forecast we made two days ago that FL SB 484 (which took away hyperscaler-favorable subsidy structures) would push friction down to the city and county level in Florida. Lakeland is a mid-size Central Florida city (~115k population, in Polk County between Tampa and Orlando, sits inside Duke Energy Florida service territory). Neighboring Zephyrhills already enacted a 1-year moratorium on June 24. This is now a Florida city-cluster pattern. The compounding read across the week. Six moratorium actions in a single week (Linn IA, Washington MD, Prince George's MD queued for vote, plus Clark IN + Whitley IN active + Lakeland FL first reading Monday) is the highest single-week county-level friction load of 2026 so far. The three-day cluster from Wednesday to Friday overlays cleanly on the July 1 state clocks — the state incentive changes are producing immediate, visible local-level moratorium responses inside a 72-hour window. That is a durable pattern that Cliff should model going forward: expect a county moratorium wave in the 5-10 day window following every major state-level regulatory event affecting data centers.

Primary source · Wave3 Louisville — Clark County could consider moratorium on data center zoning (Jul 3 2026) + News and Tribune — Clark County officials considering data center moratorium + Post and Mail — Whitley County putting moratorium on data centers + City of Lakeland — Notice of Proposed Moratorium on Data Centers and Large Load Customers + LkldNow — City Releases Proposed Data Center Moratorium Ordinance + LkldNow — Lakeland Takes First Step Toward Data Center Moratorium + FOX 13 Tampa Bay — Lakeland moves forward with drafting 12-month moratorium on large-scale data centers + WUSF — Zephyrhills City Council puts a one-year moratorium on data centers (Jun 24 2026) ↗