Governor Ron DeSantis ensured new regulations on large-scale data centers in Florida on Thursday, vowing to limit the impact on Floridians.
Calling it the first law of its kind in the U.S., the governor signed Senate Bill 484 into law.
It forces water management districts to deny a data center’s permit application if the use of the water would be detrimental to local resources.
DeSantis cited the current drought in the Sunshine State as an example of why water resources should be protected.
The new law also requires the use of reclaimed water when it is available.
In addition to protecting water resources, the law inscribes regulations on data centers’ use of electricity.
It assigns data centers full financial responsibility of electricity costs, ensuring “that such cost is not shifted” to the public.
The new law specifically impacts data centers that consume a minimum of 50 megawatts of electricity at its peak. For comparison, the average home in the U.S. uses between 28-29 kWh each day.
The data centers are filled with thousands of computers, powered with electricity and cooled with water. Those computers are used to fuel program like artificial intelligence.