Duke tariff tests Florida data center ratepayer protections
Duke tariff tests Florida data center ratepayer protections
Merrilee Gasser Fri, August 28, 2026 at 7:00 PM UTC
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Server racks in a data center. Photo: Brett Sayles / Pexels
(The Center Square) – A new Florida law protecting customers from paying the cost for large load data centers is getting its first test with Duke Energy Florida.
During a hearing this week, the Florida Public Service Commission heard arguments on Duke’s proposed tariff for large load customers.
The proposal is in response to Senate Bill 484, which passed the legislature earlier this year and is the first case deciding how the provisions of the bill will practically play out.
“This is a case of first impression, and the commission must get this right,” said Bradley Marshall with Florida Rising. “We have an affordability crisis in this state and now we have a new law that quite sensibly requires that data centers pay their full cost of service. Duke’s proposal doesn’t come close and must be rejected.”
The bill requires that minimum tariff and service requirements must reasonably ensure that each large load customer bears its own cost of service and that those costs are not shifted to the general body of ratepayers.
All electric investor utilities were required to file tariffs that comply with the new requirements by October 1, 2026.
While Duke has proposed tariffs, it fell short of proposing a rate schedule for large load customers, which Walt Trierweiler with the Office of Public Counsel said made Duke’s proposal non-compliant.
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“DEF’s non-compliant tariff proposal doesn’t attempt to comply with the most basic provisions of SB 484, because Duke claims it doesn’t have to. Because they can’t raise rates in the immediate future because of a settlement agreement. OPC points out that there’s no settlement agreement exclusion or exemption from the statutory requirements,” said Trierweiler.
Dianne Triplett with Duke Energy said their proposal meets the new standards with protections that include a 20-year minimum term, “significant” financial assurances, early termination obligations, monthly minimum bills, and two year’s notice before termination.
“You may hear that you cannot and should not approve the tariff because DEF is not proposing a specific large load rate schedule today,” said Triplett. “You may also hear large cost estimates and allegations that those costs will be posed on existing customers, but no party has identified a mechanism by which approval of this tariff could increase any customer rates before the end of 2027 which is DEF’s settlement term.”
Duke has plans to file a large load customer rate schedule at a future rate proceeding, Triplett added.
“At that time all parties, including the commission, will have the full opportunity to address cost allocation, rate design, and cost recovery on a complete evidentiary record,” said Triplett.
Marshall said despite Duke’s plans to file new rates for data centers, it would not charge them the incremental costs to serve them. Worse, he said, is the data center boom could bust.
“If there’s a bubble and it bursts, the general body of customers will be left holding the bag for billions and billions of dollars of infrastructure in the form of generation and transmission that it does not need,” said Marshall.
Source: “AOL Money”
