Tallahassee, FL — Today, Florida’s governor-appointed board of utility commissioners — the Public Service Commission (PSC) — held evidentiary hearings for Duke Energy’s controversial plan to increase residential electricity bills to fund data center energy demand. The decision is the first test of Florida’s SB484, making the PSC’s eventual decision a bellwether for how the other energy utilities will interpret the law moving forward.  

Signed into law in May by Governor DeSantis, the legislation was purportedly intended to protect ratepayers from shouldering the cost and financial risk associated with data center development. The law explicitly states that ratepayers will not be responsible for incremental transmission and generation costs from data centers, and requires utilities to create a new large load tariff rate class for data centers. Duke’s plan would put data centers in a customer class currently subsidized by residential and small business customers. 

Affordable energy and consumer advocates argue that Duke’s proposal will hurt residential and small business ratepayers, as Floridians pay some of the highest electricity bills in the nation. The Office of Public Counsel, which represents consumers in utility cases, has opposed Duke’s proposal and called for the case to be dismissed.

“Earlier this summer, DeSantis’ utility regulators had an opportunity to shut down Duke’s attempts to skirt the law; they failed to do so. Energy bills are out of control, and Duke’s data center plan is only going to further Floridians’ economic peril. The PSC must uphold the law and protect struggling families by not approving Duke’s proposal” said Brooke Ward, Florida State Director for Food & Water Watch. “This decision should have been outright dismissed, but the PSC continues to entertain and green light corporate greed over community need. Our lawmakers must ensure people get the energy they need at prices they can afford without worrying about spotting Big Tech’s electricity bill by passing PSC reform next year!” 

“Floridians are facing higher prices than ever before. Sky-high electric bills mean people have less to spend on other basic necessities. Governor DeSantis’ PSC has already given the go-ahead on record rate hikes in Florida, now we’re on the hook for data centers as well,” said ReThink Energy Florida Campaign Director Brian Lee, “We’re going to need to see our next governor and the 2027 legislature champion real PSC reforms.”