Trump touted data centers

By Claire Heddles
Miami Herald

(Miami Herald) Donald Trump announced new agreements with technology companies to bear the energy costs of data centers by building their own power plants during his State of the Union address, delivered as the Florida Legislature advances data center regulations against the president’s wishes.

“Many Americans are also concerned that energy demand from AI data centers could unfairly drive up their electric utility bills,” Trump said. “We’re telling the major tech companies that they have the obligation to provide for their own power needs. They can build their own power plants as part of their factory, so that no one’s prices will go up.”

His administration has been pushing for months for data center regulation to be uniform across the country, but Florida is poised to defy him. Trump wrote in an executive order in December that his administration and Congress must act to create a “minimally burdensome national standard — not 50 discordant State ones.”

The Florida Legislature is eyeing new rules regulating AI data centers this session. It’s one of the few issues with bipartisan agreement. The Florida Senate is set to take up a bill Wednesday setting tariff and service requirements for data centers. A House committee advanced a companion bill Tuesday that has similar regulations, and also creates a five-mile boundary around schools and homes where companies can’t build data centers.

It’s not immediately clear how those regulations might apply to Trump’s announced agreement. The House version of the Legislature’s data center bill prevents local governments from issuing permits for the construction of data centers “or support facilities,” within certain boundaries.

Though House Speaker Daniel Perez, R-Miami, has publicly agreed with Trump’s stance to leave it up to the federal government, Gov. Ron DeSantis is pushing for state-level regulations

Florida’s plans could put the state in Trump’s crosshairs. Under his December executive order, he threatened to limit federal grants to states that enforce laws that conflict with his policies.