Florida data center regulation proposal goes back to Senate

A bill in the Florida legislature aimed at regulating large data centers has passed the House of Representatives, but only after changes that watered down some of the bill's main protections. Originally, Senate Bill 484 specified that state agencies could not sign non-disclosure agreements with companies, preventing them from disclosing information about new data centers to the public. However, the amended version would allow non-disclosure agreements and contracts restricting the disclosure of information. Another critical revision includes stripping a requirement for the Public Service Commission to develop large load tariff requirements for public electric utilities. This protection was meant to prevent higher electricity payments from being passed down to other consumers. Under the new version, the commission is not required to create tariff requirements for large load customers and it is now optional. The growing prevalence of data centers has been tied to increased monthly bills for other consumers, with utilities requesting over $29 billion in rate increases in 2025. Residential electricity prices increased by over 11%, outpacing inflation. Large-scale data centers can also use up to 5 million gallons of water per day, equivalent to the water use of a town of 10,000 to 50,000 people. While data centers bring the opportunity for more jobs and increased revenue for local and state governments, the changes to this bill raise concerns about transparency and protecting other consumers from bearing the costs of data center operations.