TALLAHASSEE, Florida — A state Senate committee on Tuesday advanced a pair of bills involving data centers, a key component of artificial intelligence growth, despite concerns raised by some industry representatives.
The Senate Committee on Regulated Industries voted 8-0 to back a regulatory bill that would require the Public Service Commission to set minimum rate requirements to protect utility customers from paying more because of power use by data centers.
An Associated Industries of Florida representative raised concerns that the bill could create development hurdles for new data centers, though AIF did not oppose the measure.
Jon Brown, who said his firm DCIP Group is developing a 2-million-square-foot data center in DeSoto County, asked senators to exclude self-powered facilities like his. Brown told POLITICO that a gas-fueled generating plant will power his firm’s center.
