Talarico vs. Paxton: Different plans for Texas’ data center boom
U.S. Senate candidates Ken Paxton and James Talarico have proposed competing plans to regulate Texas’ expanding data center industry. Both want data centers to pay for the electricity and infrastructure they use, while differing on local control, water systems, tax incentives and restrictions on rural development.
U.S. Senate candidates Ken Paxton and James Talarico are offering different approaches to managing Texas’ data center boom. Both argue that data centers should not shift the costs of new power infrastructure, water systems and other impacts onto taxpayers or utility customers, and both support ending data center tax incentives.
Paxton’s Texas First Data Center Plan would require data centers to add electric capacity, fund their power needs and use closed-loop cooling systems. It also proposes restrictions on AI data centers in rural neighborhoods and requirements addressing noise, lighting, traffic and emergency response, while supporting federal measures involving Chinese technology and AI safety.
Talarico’s Hold Data Centers Accountable Plan focuses on local residents having more say over projects, concerns about housing costs and utility bills, and requiring AI companies to pay for their own electric and water infrastructure. The competing proposals reflect broader Texas concerns about data center impacts on electricity, water, local communities and state and local tax policy.