Governor DeSantis signed SB 484 on May 7, 2026. The law took effect July 1, 2026 as Chapter 2026-65, and it addresses large-scale data centers through land use authority, utility cost allocation, and water permitting.
Most of the coverage has focused on the politics. The provisions that matter to Florida landowners, developers, and agricultural operators are more specific than that.
Local governments keep siting authority
The law creates section 163.326, Florida Statutes, which confirms that local governments retain their comprehensive planning and land development regulation authority over what the statute calls large load customers, meaning facilities with substantial electric or other utility demands.
The provision also states that a large load customer may not be treated as an electric substation for purposes of section 163.3208. That distinction carries weight. Substations receive streamlined treatment under existing law, and the statute forecloses the argument that a data center qualifies for the same path.
For a county or municipality, this means siting decisions stay local. For a developer, it means the approval process runs through the same comprehensive plan and land development regulations that govern any other use.
Utilities must allocate the cost
The law creates section 366.043, governing large load tariffs for public electric utilities. Each public utility must file a tariff for Public Service Commission approval by October 1, 2026, with minimum service requirements for large load customers.
The stated purpose is to ensure that a large load customer bears its own cost of service rather than shifting it to residential and small business ratepayers.
That October filing deadline is the near-term item to watch. The tariffs, once approved, will set the terms any large-load project negotiates against.
Water permitting changes
The law establishes distinct consumptive use permit requirements and a separate application process for large-scale data centers. Water management districts and the Department of Environmental Protection are prohibited from issuing a consumptive use permit to a large-scale data center under specified circumstances, and are authorized to require that a portion of the facility’s water come from reclaimed sources as a condition of approval.
One provision deserves particular attention from anyone holding an existing permit: a permit modification involving a large-scale data center must be treated as a new, initial application rather than a modification.
For agricultural operators and developers competing for water in the same district, the permitting posture around large-load projects is now different from what it was before July.
Public records and disclosure
The law creates section 112.231, which prohibits an agency from entering a nondisclosure agreement or other contract that would restrict the agency from disclosing information about a potential data center development. It also amends section 288.075, the confidentiality of records statute, to add a data center definition.
Communities have historically learned about large projects late in the process. The disclosure provisions change the timing of what becomes public and when.
The study
The law directs the Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability to contract for an independent, interdisciplinary study of large-scale data center construction and operation. The study must address economic development and tax revenue impacts, effects on land, water, and other natural resources, energy use and related cost and rate impacts, and public health and safety. It is due to the Governor, the Senate President, and the House Speaker by July 1, 2027.
That report is likely to shape the next round of legislation. Owners and developers with land in or near areas under consideration should expect the framework to keep moving.
What this means for you
If you own land near a proposed site, the local approval process is where your input has weight. If you are developing in a market competing for the same power and water allocations, the tariff filings and the revised permitting requirements affect your timeline. If you are negotiating a sale to a data center developer, the utility and water conditions are now a larger part of what the buyer has to solve before closing.
This article is general information about Florida law and is not legal advice. Reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship.
