Florida lawmakers on Friday gave final approval to legislation establishing a regulatory framework for large data centers, sending the measure to Gov. Ron DeSantis.
The Senate voted 31-6 to pass SB 484 after taking up the bill with House changes adopted earlier this week. The measure sets new rules for local governments, public utilities and water regulators in handling projects with exceptionally large power demands, including major data-center developments.
Under the bill, local governments would retain authority over comprehensive planning and land-development regulation for large-load customers. The legislation also specifies that a large-load customer may not be treated as an electric substation for purposes of a state law governing certain local land-use reviews.
The bill defines a large-load customer as one with an anticipated monthly peak load of 50 megawatts or more at a single location, including colocated users that collectively meet that threshold.
It would require public utility tariffs for such customers to ensure that each large-load customer bears its own full cost of service, including infrastructure, generation, transmission, operations and maintenance costs.
The measure says those costs, and the risk of nonpayment, may not be shifted to the general body of ratepayers. Utilities would be required to file compliant tariffs with the Florida Public Service Commission by Oct. 1, 2026.
The legislation also bars a utility from knowingly providing electric service to a large-load customer that qualifies as a foreign entity under the bill’s definitions tied to foreign countries of concern.
In addition, the measure creates a permitting framework for large-scale data centers under Florida water law. A permit could not be issued if the proposed water use would harm local water resources or conflict with applicable zoning and comprehensive plans. The bill also requires the use of reclaimed water in certain circumstances and mandates additional disclosures and a hearing for large-scale data-center applications seeking at least 100,000 gallons of water per day.
Late House changes drew scrutiny in the Senate, particularly revisions to confidentiality language. The House removed a provision that would have required disclosure for data-center projects, but kept language preventing an additional 12-month extension of confidentiality for such projects under the state’s economic-development records law.
The bill also directs the Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability to commission an independent study on the impacts of large-scale data centers and submit recommendations by July 1, 2027.
