State law on data centers doesn't apply to Lakeland Electric (Voice)

Lakeland Ledger Sept. 6, 2026, 5:00 a.m. ET Two rulebooks, one bill: Lakeland Electric and data centers Lakeland Electric customers will begin paying higher electric bills on Oct. 1, the first step in a nearly 16% rate increase through 2030. That same day, Florida's new data center law takes effect. Investor-owned utilities like Duke, TECO and FPL must require large new customers to pay the full cost of the infrastructure they need, with nothing shifted onto existing customers. But Lakeland Electric doesn't have to follow that law, because municipal utilities are exempt. Why should Lakeland families have fewer protections than customers just a few miles away? Need a news break? Check out the all new PLAY hub with puzzles, games and more! The Dallas Fed found data centers have already pushed wholesale power prices 2% to 6% higher nationally, with steeper jumps where they cluster. The City Commission ordered Lakeland Electric to write a large load policy. It should include the same basic safeguards that are required elsewhere: Big new customers pay their own way, no cost shifting on to residents or small businesses, and a threshold that fits a utility our size, not one copied from much larger systems. If Lakeland welcomes a major data center, the developer should help strengthen the surrounding community by funding backup battery systems for homeowners. One community shouldn't have two rulebooks. Sam Romain, Lakeland Sheriff's cooperation with ICE is a mistake In an Aug. 30 column in The Ledger, Sheriff Grady Judd declared that 'Removal of criminal immigrants promotes public safety.' Judd is referring to his decision to cooperate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement to imprison and deport undocumented immigrants who live in Polk County. He is making a serious mistake. Long before ICE arrived here, Polk County's law enforcement professionals expertly solved crimes, detained suspects and kept us safe. That hasn't changed. ICE—with their reckless tactics—does nothing to keep Polk County safe. Today's ICE officials are neither competent nor professional. They're masked and don't wear badges or display their names. They're not trained to investigate, solve and prosecute crimes. They're not held accountable when something goes wrong—even when innocent bystanders are injured or murdered. We don't want them here. Jean Reynolds, Winter Haven Polk public schools need more reliable IT I have two granddaughters in a relatively new middle school, and it has been brought to my attention that, periodically, key services -- air conditioning, internet access and phone service, are shut down completely. The primary reason for this is that the IT architecture for our school system isn't configured or sourced sufficiently. I understand the economic and system management benefits of IT centralization, but when you don't have appropriate technology support at the individual schools, any server outage at Bartow negatively affects every school. I think every parent and staff member wants the safety and comfort of our children to be as foolproof as possible. I suggest the school board look at the following IT services, at a minimum, to address this issue asap: SD-WAN Technology and UPS at each school. There are other products available to support key service reliability. I'm certain the IT staff at PCSB are aware of them. I'm asking all parents and county elected officials to raise this issue with your school administration and the board to demand that no school should ever be without air conditioning or internet or phone service. Richard Thornton, Lakeland The boss wants this money: Trump's fundraising This is a brief summary of a Wall Street Journal article Aug. 1. Almost every night there is a conversation between Trump and Meredith O'Rourke, his chief fundraiser. She closely tracks all donors and donations. During this meeting, two things place: Trump gives her a list of people/corporations/lobbyists to call and tell them how much money to contribute and O'Rourke gives Trump a list of donors and donations received. Typically, the amount 'requested' is between $25 million and $50 million. As of Aug. 1, these companies have contributed: Soft Bank $50 million, Apple $25 million, Microsoft $10 million, Meta $10 million and Amazon $5 million. Billionaire Timothy Mellon contributed $100 million. After receiving millions from the tobacco lobby, the FDA lifted the restrictions on flavored vaping products. Total money raised is over $800 million. These monies will be supposedly used for the White House Ballroom, Freedom 250 and the Trump Library. It is interesting to note that the Trump Library will have a glass-walled skyscraper and will include a hotel. Money left over from the $800 million will be used for 'something else.' Farrokh Ollia, Lakeland Lessons in unity from football As the autumn air cools, American football heats up, uniting people across every culture to cheer, celebrate and share the roar of the crowd. From little league and middle school to high school and collegiate, to the National Football League, people of every culture imaginable will come together to cheer and support their favorite football team. It makes you wonder: How is it that a beloved game can bridge our deepest divides, yet we can't extend that same grace to our careers and politics? Ask yourself: Why is it so hard to work hand in hand to build up our communities? Why are we so quick to hate someone over unverified gossip? Why do we waste energy setting traps and looking for ways to watch each other fail, instead of lifting each other up? If we can cheer with single-minded passion for our favorite team, let's bring that same fierce loyalty to supporting one another and rallying for our community. Shandale Terrell, Lakeland An old tip to not leave a child in a car Once again a young child's life was lost due to being left in a car in the hot sun. A preventive measure that was suggested some time ago but seems to have been forgotten: Before getting out of the car, the driver should remove one shoe. Put the shoe beside the car seat where the child has been placed. If it is raining, the shoe can be placed on the floor of the front seat on the opposite side of the driver. Then, when the driver is preparing to exit the car, he/she will have to locate the shoe and hopefully be reminded that the child needs attention. A simple but life-saving strategy. Carole Moorman, Winter Haven Want to contribute? Send letters to the editor to voice@theledger.com, or Voice of the People, P.O. Box 408, Lakeland, FL, 33802. Submit on the website at http://tinyurl.com/28hnh3xj, or go to TheLedger.com, click on the menu arrow at the top of the website and click Submit a Letter. Letters must be 200 words or less and meet standards of decency and taste.