SB 484 Is Now Law — and It Lands Two Weeks Before the Hearing

The bill we wrote about in March is no longer just a bill. On May 7, 2026, Governor Ron DeSantis signed SB 484 into law. It takes effect July 1, 2026 — fourteen days before the Palm Beach County Commission is scheduled to hear Project Tango on July 15.

What the final law does

• Ratepayer protection. Utilities are prohibited from passing data-center infrastructure and electricity costs onto residential and small-business customers. Large-scale users must pay their full cost of service.
• Large-load customers. The law directs the Florida Public Service Commission to set baseline tariff and service requirements for utilities serving "large load customers" — those with an anticipated monthly peak load of 50 MW or more. Utilities must file tariffs for PSC approval by October 1, 2026.
• Local control preserved. Zoning, permitting, and planning authority stays with local governments, which may impose stricter standards or reject projects outright.
• Foreign ownership. Utilities are barred from serving data centers owned or controlled by foreign countries of concern.
• Water. The law establishes a dedicated permitting process for large-scale data centers and — importantly — treats major modifications as new applications rather than amendments. (For what that dedicated water permit should be made to prove at 20-Mile Bend, see Two Straws, One Aquifer.)

Why this matters for Project Tango

Two provisions land directly on the current fight.

First, local control. Any claim that the state ties commissioners' hands is now harder to make. SB 484 explicitly preserves the county's authority to impose stricter standards — or to say no.

Second — and this is the one to watch — the water-permitting rule that treats major modifications as new applications. We are not lawyers, and exactly how the county and water managers apply the new statute to these specific filings remains to be seen. But residents pressing for a public hearing on the 60-acre conversion now have a state law to point to: a change of this magnitude looks far more like a new application than a routine amendment.

What to do

The law strengthens the case. Turnout still decides it.

1. Mark July 15, 2026 at 9:30 AM. Our Hearing Prep page has everything you need to speak.
2. Contact your commissioner. Pre-filled email links for all seven are on the Resources page.
3. Sign the petition and share it with a neighbor.

Sources

• DeSantis signs data centers bill — Bay News 9 (May 7, 2026)
• Governor signs legislation more tightly regulating data centers — Florida Politics
• Florida enacts data center law covering ratepayer protections, water use, and local zoning powers — DataCenterDynamics
• Senate Bill 484 (2026) — The Florida Senate