Texas Voters Push Back Against Rapid Data Center Development
Texas voters and grassroots groups across the political spectrum are organizing against rapid data center growth, citing water consumption, electricity demand, tax incentives, pollution, and impacts on rural communities. Gov. Greg Abbott has announced partial permitting moratoriums and proposed tighter requirements, while candidates and state officials face pressure to take stronger action.
Data center development has become a major political issue in Texas, where residents in communities including Taylor, Temple, San Marcos and the Texoma region are opposing projects. Organizers with We the People Texas, Save Rural Texas and other groups say data centers threaten water supplies, increase electricity costs, require new power infrastructure and industrial facilities, and disrupt rural land and communities. A statewide poll cited by The Verge found that 57 percent of Texans oppose data center construction.
Gov. Greg Abbott, who previously promoted Texas as a hub for artificial intelligence development and expanded data center tax exemptions, has shifted toward tighter oversight. He directed the Public Utility Commission of Texas to require operators to pay for new infrastructure and announced moratoriums on some permits pending audits of electricity and water use. Critics, including Texas NAACP President Gary Bledsoe and coalition organizers, argue the measures do not cover projects with on-site power supplies and may not be enforced consistently. State candidates including Gina Hinojosa, Ken Paxton and James Talarico are also attempting to appeal to voters concerned about data center growth, while Paxton has launched investigations into water use and the legality of a proposed Taylor project on parkland.