Abbott Unveils Housing Affordability Proposals, Says Data Centers Don’t Belong in Neighborhoods

Texas Governor Greg Abbott unveiled a series of housing affordability proposals during a campaign event in Round Rock, Texas. Key among these is a plan to penalize cities and counties that circumvent state law, specifically Senate Bill 15, which aims to simplify and reduce the cost of homebuilding. Abbott stated that local governments impose costly mandates like requiring specific amenities or building heights, effectively deterring residential development.

During the event, Governor Abbott also clarified and expanded on his previous comments regarding data center construction. He emphasized that his concerns about data centers extend beyond rural areas, asserting that large data centers should not be built in any residential neighborhoods. Abbott reiterated his call for data centers to be financially responsible for their own infrastructure, generate their own electricity instead of drawing from the public grid, reduce energy costs for Texans, and implement water recycling systems to avoid straining local water supplies. He suggested industrial areas, such as parts of the Permian Basin, as more appropriate locations for these facilities, stressing that no neighborhood should be disrupted by a data center.