Residential electricity costs are near a record high, per Bloomberg: pic.twitter.com/PDG3LPCNQg
— unusual_whales (@unusual_whales) September 2, 2025
For the first time in Florida, utility regulators are mulling how to handle data centers — the energy-guzzling facilities that house computer equipment needed to power artificial intelligence and other tech programs.
Data centers in other parts of the country have already skyrocketed some Americans’ electric bills, as utilities must rapidly build more power plants and transmission lines to compensate for the soaring demand. The issue has come up as part of the complex rate case of Florida Power & Light, giving state utility regulators the chance to set guardrails that could set a precedent for Duke Energy Florida and Tampa Electric.
When Florida Power & Light first filed its request to hike base rates, it asked to collect nearly $10 billion more from customers over the next four years. Embedded in that petition was also how it proposed to address data centers: It would require tech companies to pay a minimum bill representing 90% of their expected energy costs. That way, if a data center’s consumption fell short, residents wouldn’t be required to cover the gap incurred by the utility building up its infrastructure to accommodate the facility.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/data-centers-drive-florida-electric-110000602.html