In Boardman, Oregon, a massive Amazon data center rises behind a wall of power lines—a stark image of what’s now unfolding in Florida. State regulators there are facing a pivotal question: who should bear the cost of powering the next wave of data centers—utilities, consumers, or the companies themselves? Florida Power & Light (FPL) has asked to raise base electric rates by nearly $10 billion , one of the largest requests in U.S. history. Embedded in that proposal is a first-

Across the United States, a 21st-century land rush is transforming the American landscape—not for gold, oil, or rail, but for data. From...