Florida's data-center debate is ultimately about infrastructure allocation. Data centers can generate substantial investment and economic activity while creating significant demands for electricity, water, land, and public infrastructure. Florida's 2026 legislation addresses some of those demands through utility regulation and water permitting while preserving local land-development authority.
PSC LARGE-LOAD TARIFFS
The October 1, 2026, filing deadline marks the start of the next phase of Florida's large-load regulatory framework.
LOCAL SITING
Zoning, comprehensive plans, development orders, moratoria, and infrastructure conditions will remain important as local governments address proposed facilities.
WATER PERMITTING
Implementation by DEP and the water-management districts will help determine how the new large-scale data-center requirements operate in practice.
Florida's approach is developing alongside substantially different responses in other states.
NEW YORK EXECUTIVE ORDER NO. 62
On July 14, 2026, Governor Kathy Hochul issued Executive Order No. 62, establishing a temporary moratorium on data centers while New York develops higher standards for data-center development and a benefits framework for localities. New York has therefore begun with a temporary statewide pause, while Florida has enacted a regulatory framework while preserving local land-development authority.
GEORGIA SB 410
SB 484 also creates new issues for government and developer counsel. The legislation restricts an agency from entering into a nondisclosure agreement or similar contract that prevents the public disclosure of information concerning a potential data-center development. It also modifies the existing economic-development public-records framework for data-center projects. The practical question is how these new provisions interact with Florida's broader public-records laws and existing statutory exemptions.
Data centers might require significant amounts of water, depending on facility design and cooling technology. SB 484 establishes specific consumptive-use permit (CUP) requirements for large-scale data centers under Chapter 373 of the Florida Statutes. The law requires a water-management district or the Department of Environmental Protection to require the use of reclaimed water in place of all or part of a proposed surface-water or groundwater allocation when specified statutory conditions are satisfied.
State Requirements and Local Land Use
SB 484 expressly preserves local government authority over comprehensive planning and land development regulation involving large-load customers. The new statewide utility framework, therefore, does not create a statewide siting approval process that replaces local land-use regulation. Proposed facilities may still require consistency with the comprehensive plan, zoning, development orders, site-plan requirements, infrastructure conditions, and other local development regulations.
Florida's utility regulatory structure matters to the implementation of SB 484. The new requirements operate within Chapter 366's existing jurisdictional framework as Section 366.043. Investor-owned utilities subject to PSC rate regulation will implement the requirements through PSC proceedings. Municipal electric utilities and rural electric cooperatives are generally subject to separate statutory treatment and are not subject to the PSC's full rate-setting jurisdiction.
Large-Load Tariffs and Ratepayer Protection
One of SB 484's most significant provisions concerns electric-service costs. The law requires the Florida Public Service Commission (PSC) to establish minimum tariff and service requirements for large-load customers. Those requirements must reasonably ensure that each large-load customer bears its full cost of service and that those costs are not shifted to the general body of ratepayers. Public utilities must file large-load tariff petitions with the PSC by October 1, 2026.
SB 484 defines a large-scale data center as a single location with an on-site data center and an anticipated monthly peak load of 50 megawatts or more, calculated as the highest average load over a 15-minute interval. The statute excludes loads aggregated across multiple locations owned by the same customer. Still, it includes customers or other entities operating under a colocation or similar agreement at a qualifying single location. For developers and counsel, that distinction may be significant when structuring projects involving multiple entities, buildings, parcels, or phases.
CS/CS/SB 484
CS/CS/SB 484 (2026), Data Centers, became Chapter 2026-65, Laws of Florida. It passed the Senate 31–6 and the House 92–16 and took effect July 1, 2026. The law establishes requirements for large-load customers and large-scale data centers, addresses electric service costs, creates additional water-permitting requirements, modifies public records provisions, addresses certain foreign ownership and control, and preserves local government authority over comprehensive planning and land development regulation.
