State lawmakers are inching closer to creating new restrictions on data centers in Florida aimed at protecting utility customers.
But one key protection aimed at ensuring adequate public input has been stripped from the legislation.
Taking on the rapid growth of data centers was a key priority of Governor Ron DeSantis this session.
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But the product nearing the finish line at the State Capitol barely resembles the sweeping restrictions the Governor requested.
The bill does allow for tariffs to be levied on data centers to ensure utility ratepayers don’t bear the brunt of data centers’ massive electric and water requirements, which is in line with the Governor’s call.
“The original version of SB 484 was actually pretty okay,” said Pat Garofalo with the American Economic Liberties Project.
Garofalo noted a key element of the bill was stripped out in the final days of session that would have ensured communities could push back on data center projects before deals were set in stone.
“One of the ways in which the tech industry has managed to foist so many data centers onto so many communities is that they use nondisclosure agreements,” said Garofalo.
The bill initially sought to prohibit prospective data center projects from requiring local government officials to enter into NDAs.
It’s not uncommon for companies to use NDAs with local officials in the early stages of projects, generally to protect trade secrets.
But Garofalo argued when it comes to data centers, there isn’t much of an argument to support NDAs, and by allowing them the public will lose key opportunities to fight back.
“The reason they go to these gigantic, broad, all inclusive, we can’t say the name, we can’t even say it’s going to be a data center versus something else is because they know these projects are unpopular and they don’t want to deal with the rabble,” said Garofalo.
The data center bill also does not allow local governments to pass blanket prohibitions on data centers, as the Governor had requested.
Nor does it prohibit tax incentives from being offered to attract data centers.
State lawmakers will have to agree on final bill language by the end of the day Friday for the bill to clear the finish line.
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