More than half of Texas data centers broke law by not responding to water use inquiry
Most data centers in Texas failed to respond to a state-mandated inquiry into their water usage, potentially leading to criminal investigations. This lack of transparency has increased public mistrust and is driving discussions in the Texas Senate about new legislation, including water use limits and repealing sales tax exemptions.
The Texas Water Development Board and Public Utility Commission launched a statewide inquiry into data center water usage, revealing that fewer than half of the identified facilities responded. Temple McKinnon, water supply planning director at the Texas Water Development Board, stated that only 97 out of 324 contacted facilities responded, indicating potential criminal charges for non-compliance, to be enforced by local law enforcement. Public Utility Commission Director Connie Corona also noted a lack of a complete inventory of data centers, suggesting many operators might not have been contacted.
The non-responsiveness has exacerbated public mistrust regarding data center operations in Texas, making it a prominent issue in the current election cycle, particularly in rural Republican-leaning areas. At a recent Texas Senate committee hearing, Rick Thompson of the County Judges and Commissioners Association of Texas highlighted the prevalence of misleading information at the local level.
The hearing, held in Austin, did not provide detailed current water usage data but foreshadowed significant legislative action in the next year. Lawmakers discussed repealing sales tax exemptions for data centers, imposing water use limits, and introducing noise restrictions. During the hearing, Senator Adam Hinojosa secured tentative commitments from representatives of Google, Lancium, and QTS Data Centers to support some of these new restrictions, including water use limits. These companies testified about their use of more efficient closed water-cooling systems. University of Texas at Austin researchers also testified, estimating that 60% of data center-related water use occurs at power plants and projecting data centers could account for 5% of the state’s total water usage by 2030.