Florida

Energy/Power is the dominant stress point: the 2026 debate centers on who pays for transmission, generation, and interconnection costs, and candidates are campaigning on protecting ratepayers from utility spikes. Water/Geology is the second stress point, with CUP rules, reclaimed-water requirements, and fears of heavy water consumption driving local opposition.

Governor: Paul Renner (R) has campaigned for a statewide pause on new data centers until environmental and utility impacts are clearer; Byron Donalds (R) has said he wants Florida to lead on data center construction, making the issue a contrast in the GOP primary. James Fishback (R) also attacked AI/data center water and energy use in campaign stops. No 2026 U.S. Senate or legislative race with similarly documented data-center-centered campaign messaging was identified.

No statewide moratorium or ban is in place. Instead, Florida enacted SB 484, signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis on May 7, 2026, which strengthens guardrails on large-scale data centers, preserves local land-use authority, requires PSC tariffs, and adds water-permitting and reclaimed-water provisions. Earlier House bill CS/CS/HB 1007, which included similar restrictions, was laid on the table and referred to SB 484. I did not identify a formally enacted local moratorium of national significance, though Pinellas County officials publicly discussed blocking or limiting projects.

SB 484 requires PSC tariff and service rules that must ensure large load customers pay their full cost of service and that the risk is not shifted to the general body of ratepayers, and it requires utilities to file tariffs by Oct. 1, 2026. The law also bars load-splitting to evade tariff rules and allows service interruption language for grid stability. HB 1007 contained similar cost-shift protections but was superseded when the Senate vehicle advanced.

None identified.

1) Project Tango — western Palm Beach County near Loxahatchee/Wellington; proposed hyperscale AI campus, postponed amid community outrage and impact-study demands, with no developer publicly identified. 2) Sentinel Grove Technology Park — Orange Avenue, Fort Pierce, St. Lucie County; proposed 15-million-square-foot project, may be abandoned as the developer reportedly waits on Tallahassee and local opposition remains strong. 3) Okee-One data campus — near Okeechobee in Okeechobee County; proposed 9-10 MW campus on a 205-acre site, facing growing resident pushback and state-level uncertainty.

Palm Beach County residents and the Project Tango opposition coalition; Treasure Coast and Palm Beach County resident groups opposing Sentinel Grove; local county commissioners in Palm Beach and Pinellas who have pushed back on siting and utility impacts; environmental advocates cited in reporting on Project Tango; Okeechobee-area residents opposing Okee-One.

None identified at the state political-surface layer as of May 2026. Talent and workforce dynamics in Florida surface primarily at the sub-state and labor-market level — county and municipal proceedings on named projects, regional building trades council positions, and utility commission workforce testimony — which are out of scope for the tracker's state-political-surface read. Request a full RAIL briefing for sub-state and labor-market analysis.

Emerging. Florida is not yet a major hyperscale hub, but it has a fast-rising pipeline of proposed projects and state policy attention; reporting in spring 2026 described no large-scale or hyperscale centers yet built, though projects like Fort Meade could become Florida’s first hyperscale campus.

“You should not pay one more red cent for electricity because of a hyper-scale data center as an individual.” — Gov. Ron DeSantis, quoted by WUSF on May 7, 2026.

Florida Senate bill summary for CS/CS/SB 484, Florida Senate bill page for CS/CS/HB 1007, WUSF on DeSantis signing SB 484, POLITICO Florida Playbook on Renner, Donalds, and data centers, WPTV on Sentinel Grove and Project Tango, Ballotpedia on 2026 data center ballot measures