Senate Bill 44 on Hyperscale Data Centers in Florida

signed into law

Senate Bill 44, signed by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, prohibits utilities companies in Florida from making residents pay higher electricity costs caused by data centers. The legislation also preserves local control over zoning, permitting, and land use, protects data centers from draining water resources, and discourages local subsidies for data centers. Instead, it suggests charging data centers more to reduce residential property taxes. The bill acknowledges that data centers provide jobs during construction but employ few people once built, and highlights the potential for data centers to increase electricity rates due to increased power demand.