Legislature approves regulatory framework for data centers as Florida tries to keep ahead in AI race

The Legislature has passed a new regulatory framework for data centers to be built in the state. The bill (SB 484) next heads to Gov. Ron DeSantis’ desk.

The Senate took up the legislation after the House approved the same bill with significant changes made this week. The upper chamber passed it 31-6.

But language allowing economic development agencies to keep plans for major data centers secret for up to a year generated questions in the Senate. While all votes against the bill came from Democrats, questions about secrecy concerns came from both sides of the aisle.

Senate Democratic Leader Lori Berman noted that the Senate previously passed a bill unanimously that didn’t allow nondisclosure agreements.

“I still would like to be able to protect our constituents and let them know when these large data centers are coming into their communities so that they can have the discussion,” the Delray Beach Democrat said.

“Also, at one point in time, there was actually a 5-mile restriction from the data centers being near schools, and that has been removed from the bill. So I’m not able to support it at this point.”

Sen. Bryan Ávila, a Hialeah Gardens Republican who sponsored the bill, stressed that not every developer will want to enter into a nondisclosure agreement.

“What I have seen is, you have hyper-scalers, you have Neocloud companies, you have companies that are solely dedicated to building out data centers,” he said.

“They start acquiring several properties where they might be interested in having a data center somewhere in that time frame or that window. They’re reaching out to the local government and then having some sort of dialog as it relates to that data center in a general location. From there, obviously the situation varies based on jurisdictions. Some enter into an economic development agreement. Some do not.”

Many expressed concerns the House also stripped out specific regulations ensuring other electric ratepayers don’t absorb the cost of increases in energy use by major data centers. But Avila said the bill “under no circumstances” would result in rate increases.

President Donald Trump earlier this month issued a proclamation encouraging the streamlining of approvals for data centers, which he said was critical to the U.S. staying ahead in an artificial intelligence race against other nations. That also called for companies to pledge to absorb the costs related to increased energy use.

“Data center infrastructure is the foundation of the internet, cloud computing, and artificial intelligence (AI), and it supports our economic and national security,” Trump’s proclamation reads.

Some business lobbyists have told Florida Politics the regulations may actually go too far in discouraging construction of data centers in Florida.

“Florida is closing the door on massive private investments that would create jobs, bring billions in tax revenue and support President Trump’s plan for America to win the AI race against China,” one lobbyist told Florida Politics. “The bill targets one industry with unnecessary restrictions, which could ultimately create financial risk for utilities and increase costs for Florida ratepayers.”