Texas leaders are asking data centers how much water they use. Most aren’t responding
Texas state officials are attempting to collect data on water and energy usage from data center companies via surveys to inform future policy. However, most companies are not responding, leading to concerns among lawmakers about the reliability of the collected data for making informed decisions on water planning and infrastructure costs. Governor Greg Abbott has made recommendations for legislative action regarding water efficiency and infrastructure cost allocation.
Texas state officials are struggling to gather crucial data on water and energy consumption from data center operators across the state, a key step in informing future policy decisions amid a boom in data center proposals. During a legislative hearing in Austin, the House Natural Resources Committee was informed that less than a third of companies surveyed by the Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUC) responded, prompting criticism from lawmakers like state Rep. Brad Buckley. Lawmakers expressed concern that such "sparse information" would not provide a reliable foundation for long-term water planning or understanding the relationship between water and energy demand from large industrial facilities.
Governor Greg Abbott has already taken steps to tighten oversight, directing public utilities to prevent data center infrastructure costs from being passed to customers and recommending legislative action to mandate more efficient water recirculation systems. Google, for instance, has committed to 100% air-cooled, closed-loop cooling systems for new facilities, aligning with the industry's stated efforts to reduce water use. Dan Diorio, Vice President of State Policy with the Data Center Coalition, acknowledged the industry's need to protect proprietary information but offered to work with the PUC and Texas Water Development Board (TWDB) to improve response rates by exploring aggregated and anonymized data.
This issue is not new, as the TWDB has faced similar low response rates to its mandatory water consumption surveys, with only 17% responding in 2025 despite a growing number of surveyed data centers. The PUC's survey is voluntary, with no incentives for participation, while non-compliance for TWDB surveys carries only a minimal fine. Lawmakers like Rep. Jeffrey Barry emphasized the need for consistent, robust data to make sound decisions on increasingly scarce water resources, highlighting the challenge of regulating a rapidly expanding and competitive industry without adequate information.