Data centers are coming to Florida — the fight is whether they pay their own way

Both candidates in Tampa's toss-up House race have industry ties, and both now say data centers should cover their own power and grid costs. The question is who ends up holding the bill.

• The FL-14 race (Castor vs. Beltran) is rated a Cook toss-up.
• A Daily Caller review of campaign records ties Castor to lobbyist and energy-linked donors, Beltran to a 2021 data-center tax-exemption bill.
• Castor sponsored the Ratepayer Protection Act; Beltran backs the governor's pay-their-own-way push.
• At stake: whether data centers' power and grid costs land on Florida ratepayers.

Data centers are coming to Florida either way — the future runs on massive computation, and that is where the money is. The live fight is narrower: whether the centers pay their own way, or whether their power and grid costs land on Florida ratepayers and water.

That fight now runs through Tampa's House race. Representative Kathy Castor faces Republican Mike Beltran in the 14th District, a Cook Political Report toss-up. A Daily Caller review of campaign records ties both to the industry — Castor through lobbyist and energy-linked donors, Beltran through a 2021 bill extending a sales-tax exemption for data center property.

Both now point the same direction: Castor sponsored the Ratepayer Protection Act, which would make operators cover their own power and grid costs, and Beltran backs Governor DeSantis's push to make data centers pay their own way.