What the president of FPL’s parent company said about data centers
NextEra Energy and Florida Power & Light (FPL) leaders expressed confidence in Florida's data center market despite new legislation (SB 484) aimed at protecting consumers from large-scale data center costs. They believe the new law, which ensures data centers bear their full service costs and empowers local governments, creates a level playing field and certainty for investments. FPL also emphasized the importance of finding suitable locations and transparency amid community opposition.
NextEra Energy, parent company of Florida Power & Light (FPL), held its second quarter earnings call where leaders discussed a new law (SB 484) intended to protect consumers from the costs associated with large-scale data centers. NextEra Energy President and CEO John Ketchum stated that FPL's ability to build at a low cost makes Florida "very compelling" and that the legislation would create a level playing field by forcing competition on cost. FPL President and CEO Scott Bores added that the law, combined with a November rate settlement approved by the Florida Public Service Commission, provides "a lot of certainty" for multi-billion dollar investments.
The legislation, signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis in May, mandates that the Florida Public Service Commission develop "tariffs" and service requirements to ensure large load customers, such as data centers, cover their full cost of service, preventing these expenses from shifting to general ratepayers. This includes connection, power transmission, and generation costs. The measure also reinforces the right of local governments to refuse data center development within their jurisdictions, while also allowing them to enter into non-disclosure agreements with tech companies for up to 12 months regarding data center proposals.
Addressing concerns about local communities' "appetite" against hosting data centers, Bores stressed the need for "finding the right locations" and "transparency in the process." He noted that there are many suitable locations in Florida and FPL is actively working with interested communities to host data centers.