What the president of FPL’s parent company said about data centers

Florida Politics admin July 30, 2026 0 Comments

What the president of FPL’s parent company said about data centers

TALLAHASSEE

Leaders of Florida’s largest energy producer didn’t appear fazed by a new law intended to protect consumers from the effects of large-scale data centers during talks before investors.

NextEra Energy, the parent company of Florida Power & Light, the largest electric utility in the state, held its second quarter earnings call last week. When asked about additional data center development in the state, NextEra Energy President and CEO John Ketchum said “the fact that we can build at a low cost is appealing to folks.”

“It’s really going to, I think, shift the scales to creating a level playing field where people are going to have to compete on cost,” Ketchum added. “That makes Florida very compelling because of the execution track record that we have been able to demonstrate at FPL over a number of years.”

FPL President and CEO Scott Bores said the legislation (SB 484), following the approval of a rate settlement in November that addressed data center electric use for FPL by the Florida Public Service Commission, has created “a lot of certainty” for multi-billion dollar investments in the state.

“That gives us a good foundation to build upon,” Bores said.

When later asked about the “appetite” seen from local communities against hosting data centers, Bores stressed the importance of “finding the right locations” and the need for “transparency in the process.”

“There are a lot of spots in the state of Florida, and we are working with those communities that are really interested and have good locations that’ll be the perfect host for data centers,” Bores said.

The data center legislation signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis in May requires the Florida Public Service Commission, which regulates electric utilities, to develop what are known as “tariffs” and service requirements to “reasonably ensure that each large load customer bears its own full cost of service and that such cost is not shifted to the general body of ratepayers.”

That would include costs related to connecting to electric systems and increased power transmission and generation costs.

The measure also reinforces the ability of local governments to refuse to build data centers in their jurisdictions. But it also allows city and county governments to enter into non-disclosure agreements with tech companies for up to 12 months, which would hide data center proposals from the public during that time.

SPECIALTY TAG IN PARADISE

One of Florida’s newest specialty tags has, as the song Son of a Son of a Sailor states, already “chalked up many a mile,” earning a state first for the program that features more than 100 designs.

Florida’s “Margaritaville” tag, approved by the Legislature after musician Jimmy Buffett’s September 2023 death, is the first to be voted the top new design of the year by the Automobile License Plate Collectors Association.

Approved in 2024 alongside a bill that designated Florida A1A as “Jimmy Buffett Memorial Highway,” the specialty plate breezed through the pre-sale process, reaching the required 3,000 sales within six months. Under state law, a specialty plate must reach that threshold of presales before production can begin.

“It really, I guess, creates that laid-back, fun-in-the-sun spirit that Florida is known for and obviously it’s a feeling that Jimmy Buffett shared with many over the years,” said Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles deputy director Robert Kynoch.

Kynoch noted that plates that eventually reach the road typically take about a year to hit the pre-sale benchmark.

Association Director Cyndi McCabe said the Margaritaville tag, with its colorful beach backdrop between a pair of palm trees, along with abandoned flipflops, a parrot, and Jimmy Buffett’s iconic seaplane, was selected from 23 other nominees out of 18 U.S. states and territories, Mexico, Canada and the Caribbean.

The judging criteria balanced overall attractiveness and legibility for law enforcement.

McCabe noted one association member praised the plate’s “vivid imagery: A setting sun creates a bright orange, like a Florida orange, really pops.”

Born in Mississippi, Buffett’s brand became synonymous with the Florida Keys.

“Margaritaville” was Buffett’s highest charting solo single from his 1977 album “Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes.”

Proceeds from the sale of the “Margaritaville” license plate benefit the SFC Charitable Foundation, also known as Singing for Change, which Buffett founded.

As of July 1, sales were just under 10,000.

SOCIAL MEDIA POST OF THE WEEK

“Badge of honor! Proud to have blocked local governments from enforcing Faucian edicts on their citizens,” Gov. Ron DeSantis (@RonDeSantis) reacting to snippets of Dr. Anthony Fauci’s COVID-19 diary calling him “a complete disgrace” for his approach to the pandemic.

This story was originally published July 30, 2026 at 1:47 PM.