Gov. Ron DeSantis signed legislation on Thursday that established new rules for large-scale data centers in Florida, creating requirements tied to electricity costs, water use, local land-use authority and public disclosure.
The measure, SB 484, takes effect July 1, though provisions dealing with local government land-use authority take effect immediately. The bill was approved by the Senate 31-6 and the House 92-16 after lawmakers amended the proposal during the final week of the regular session.
The law requires public electric utilities to file new tariffs with the Florida Public Service Commission by Oct. 1. Those filings must be designed to ensure that large-load customers, including major data centers, pay the full cost of serving them rather than shifting those costs to other ratepayers. The bill applies to customers with anticipated monthly peak demand of at least 50 megawatts at one location.
Utilities also are barred from knowingly providing electric service to large-load customers that qualify as certain foreign entities, including entities tied to countries of concern under Florida law.
The bill preserves local government authority over comprehensive planning and land-development rules for large-load customers. It also says those customers may not be treated as electric substations, a designation that could otherwise affect the local approval process.
The measure creates additional water-permitting requirements for large-scale data centers. For projects seeking to use at least 100,000 gallons per day, applicants must provide more detailed information about water sources, cooling-related losses, employee use, irrigation needs and conservation plans. The bill also requires reclaimed water to be used instead of surface or groundwater when available and feasible.
The law further limits how long certain economic-development information related to data centers can remain confidential and directs OPPAGA to arrange an independent study of data centers’ economic, tax, energy, water, land-use and public-safety effects by July 1, 2027.
