Abbott wants to empower local officials to make decisions about data centers
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said he wants to give cities, counties and residents more authority over data center siting and operations. He cited concerns about power consumption, threats to water supplies and data centers encroaching on neighborhoods, while opposing Chinese control of artificial intelligence infrastructure.
Gov. Greg Abbott said Texas should empower local officials, including city councils and county commissioners courts, to decide whether and how data centers are built in their communities. He argued that local governments are closer to residents and better positioned than state leaders in Austin to evaluate proposals.
Abbott also raised concerns that data centers could seek as much as five times the power available on the state grid, use water in ways that threaten supplies and expand into neighborhoods. He said Texas would not allow those impacts and linked the policy to preventing Chinese control over the future of artificial intelligence.