DeSantis signs law regulating AI data centers

Gov. Ron DeSantis signed SB 484 into law on May 7 at Florida Polytechnic University in Lakeland, according to reporting by the Tampa Bay Times and Orlando Weekly. The statute creates new state-level rules for large-scale, AI-capable data centers and attaches guardrails around electricity and water use, per Tampa Bay Times and Fox13. The law applies protections for facilities that consume at least 50 megawatts at peak, as reported by the Tampa Bay Times. The legislation requires that such data centers "bear their own full cost of service" so costs are not shifted to utility customers, and it directs the Florida Public Service Commission to develop tariffs and minimum service requirements to operationalize that requirement, as reported by Fox13 and Florida Phoenix.

• •The use of reclaimed water where feasible and denial of consumptive-use permits if proposed water use "is harmful to the water resources of the area," per Tampa Bay Times.
• •That data centers pay full utility and infrastructure costs and not shift them to Florida electric customers, per Fox13 and Tampa Bay Times.
• •Confidentiality allowances that let companies keep plans private for up to one year, reported by Florida Phoenix and WLRN.
• •A study by the Florida Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability (OPPAGA) on data center construction and operations due to the governor and legislative leaders by July 1, 2027, per Florida Phoenix.

Industry-pattern observations: State-level limits on cost-shifting and local water permitting address two technical constraints that commonly affect hyperscale data center siting: sustained high electrical load and large-volume cooling needs. Operators building facilities at or above the 50 megawatt threshold typically plan for continuous power provisioning and significant water-for-cooling capacity. Rules that require full-cost recovery via tariffs and tighter consumptive-use permitting raise the bar for local infrastructure planning and may increase the explicit capital and operating costs developers must demonstrate during siting reviews.

Industry observers have documented repeated community resistance to large data center proposals over water and long-term local economic benefits; Tampa Bay Times and Fox13 report that recent local opposition across several Florida counties informed legislative attention this session. Editorial analysis: States and localities increasingly weave utility-tariff requirements and water-resource conditions into data center approval processes to force clearer accounting of externalities, which can change the commercial calculus for greenfield hyperscale builds.

Observers should track how the Florida Public Service Commission defines tariffs and "full cost of service" in rulemaking or enforcement actions, and whether those tariffs include grid upgrades, standby capacity, or demand charges. Also watch how local water management districts apply the consumptive-use standard and reclaimed-water mandates in permit reviews, and whether the OPPAGA study, due July 1, 2027, recommends further statutory changes or implementation guidance. Finally, follow whether confidentiality allowances (up to one year) become a point of litigation or local policy dispute, as reported by Florida Phoenix and WLRN.

Several pieces note that earlier, stronger versions of the bill were trimmed during negotiations with industry and the legislature; Florida Phoenix and Tampa Bay Times report that the House rewrote portions after engagement with developers and federal actors. The governor verbally framed the law as protective of consumers and asserted it may be "the first law of its kind in the country," per Tampa Bay Times; those are reported statements, not independent legal determinations.

For practitioners evaluating infrastructure and site selection, industry-pattern observations: the combination of explicit tariff obligations and water-use restrictions increases the importance of upfront utility cost modeling, negotiation with utilities on tariff design, and early water-resource assessments. For policy analysts, tracking subsequent PSC rulemaking and local permitting outcomes will show whether the law materially changes commercial decision-making or simply increases administrative hurdles.