TALLAHASSEE, Florida — Gov. Ron DeSantis’ push to regulate large data centers received a legislative boost this week with a new bill filed in the Florida House.
Details: The bill would establish, as state policy, that local governments are encouraged and empowered to protect residents against the negative effects of data centers.
The legislation would prohibit utilities from passing along any fees to recover costs related to new and different power sources for data centers to existing customers.
The bill, filed Monday, also would prohibit local governments from allowing data centers in mixed land use categories. Data center approvals by local governments would require concurrence by the governor and Cabinet after public hearings. And data centers would be subject to 500-foot setbacks and vegetative buffering.
