Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has signed SB 484, a state law aimed at regulating large-scale data center development, including how costs are allocated, how projects are approved at the local level, and how environmental impacts are managed.
The general terms and rules of the bill SB 484 pertaining to data centers are as follows:
- Specifying that local governments maintain authority to exercise power and responsibility over comprehensive planning and land development regulations relating to large load customers
- Requiring public utilities to provide certain minimum tariff and service requirements for large load customers
- Prohibiting the governing board of a water management district or the Department of Environmental Protection from issuing a permit for the consumptive use of water to a large-scale data center under certain circumstances
- Requiring the Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability to contract for a study relating to the construction and operation of large-scale data centers, etc.
According to a press release, the law includes provisions that prohibit utilities from shifting the costs of serving large data center users onto residential and small business customers. It requires large-scale users to pay the full cost of their electricity and related utility service, and is intended to prevent broader ratepayers from absorbing infrastructure or operational expenses tied to those facilities.
Ron DeSantis, 46th Governor of Florida, stated, “I signed legislation to protect our citizens and communities from hyperscale data centers. These are much-needed protections for taxpayers and our natural resources, SB 484 ensures that local governments maintain the authority to reject data center development in their communities, prevents data center costs from being passed on to consumers, including electricity costs, and protects Florida’s water resources from data center consumption.”
SB 484 also preserves local government control over zoning, permitting, and land use decisions related to data centers. It allows municipalities and counties to impose stricter requirements or deny proposed projects. The law further clarifies how data centers should be classified under state rules in order to avoid regulatory gaps.
On transparency and security, the legislation requires public disclosure of data center development agreements after any applicable exemption period. It also introduces new statutory definitions intended to reduce ambiguity in how the facilities are regulated. In addition, utilities are prohibited from providing service to data centers that are owned or controlled by foreign countries designated as security concerns.
The law establishes a dedicated permitting process for large-scale data center projects and allows the use of reclaimed water as part of environmental compliance measures. It also requires that major modifications to existing facilities be treated as new permit applications, subject to full review under the updated standards.