Source: Tampa Bay 28

PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. — State regulators are scrutinizing Duke Energy’s proposal to serve proposed AI data centers to determine whether it complies with Florida’s new law requiring large electricity users to bear the costs of the generation, transmission, and other infrastructure they necessitate rather than shifting those costs to other customers. At a hearing in Pinellas County, members of the Florida Public Service Commission raised concerns about whether Duke’s filing meets the statute’s requirements; Commissioner Gary Clark told Duke Energy, “I think you’re on real shaky ground, if you ask me.” Earthjustice attorney Jordan Luebkemann, representing Florida Rising, described Duke’s filing as “the first test of the new law.”

Duke Energy maintains its plan is designed to protect existing customers and prepare for future growth, telling the newsroom that under a current rate settlement customer base rates will not include data-center-related costs through the end of 2027 and that shareholders, not existing customers, would absorb any shortfall if a large-load customer fails to generate enough revenue to cover its costs before then. The Florida Public Service Commission voted to let Duke’s proposal move forward and denied a request to dismiss the case; regulators plan to revisit the proposal at a two-day hearing in late August to decide whether Duke’s plan complies with the new statute. The article notes proposals for massive AI data centers across the state, including a planned facility in Fort Meade, which can demand electricity at scales that may require new plants and transmission infrastructure.