Tallahassee, FL — Yesterday, Florida utility regulator staff recommended that the Public Service Commission (PSC) deny Duke Energy’s highly contentious data center proposal. If approved, Duke’s proposal would place data centers in a customer class subsidized by residential and small business customers, resulting in higher bills.

After hearings last month where Duke refused to make public the full cost to residential and small business ratepayers, the staff found that Duke’s proposal cannot “reasonably ensure that each large load customer bears its own full cost of service and that such cost is not shifted to the general body of ratepayers.”

Duke’s proposal fails to create a new large load tariff for data centers, as required by SB484. Their proposal is the first test to whether SB484 — signed into law earlier this year — protects ratepayers from bearing the costs of data center development. Tampa Electric filed its large load tariff proposal at the end of last month, including a new class for data centers.

The Office of Public Counsel, which represents consumers in utility cases, has opposed Duke’s proposal and called for the case to be dismissed.

The PSC is expected to issue a final decision on November 3.

Brooke Ward, Florida State Director for Food & Water Watch, issued the following statement:

“We’ve seen DeSantis’ utility regulators veer away from their staff’s recommendations in the past, and those decisions have directly resulted in higher electricity bills. Floridians already pay some of the highest electricity bills in the country, and if approved, this proposal will only make things worse.

“Advocates, including the Office of Public Counsel, have been saying Duke’s proposal does not meet the legal requirements to protect residents and small business owners. Duke would have struggling Florida families pick up the bill for data centers, which is why the PSC should follow staff recommendations and reject Duke’s data center handout. It’s the law!” 

Recent Food & Water Watch analysis finds that between January 2021 and January 2026, Duke Energy customer bills jumped 45 percent — over twice the rate of inflation — amounting to over $688 more annually. If approved, Duke’s data center rate structure proposal is expected to drive residential and small business electricity bills even higher.

Background

Governor Ron DeSantis signed SB484 into law in May. The legislation was purportedly meant 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.

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.  Meanwhile, electric utilities stand to profit from data center development.

At a hearing in August, Duke revealed that it has been approached by data center companies about powering warehouses up to 1,400 megawatts, reported to be among the biggest in the world.