Aug 14, 2026
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Add us on GoogleTexas Governor Greg Abbott is the latest U.S. representative to push back against the flurry of data centers proposed in his jurisdiction as constituents grow increasingly hostile to the idea of the gargantuan water-and-electricity hogging facilities in their backyards.
The long-time leader may be an avid supporter of the expansion of the oil and gas sector, but it appears he’s no longer extending the same love to the artificial intelligence buildout, which he initially considered an economic boon for the state.
Abbott has energy and safety concerns
After calling Texas “the epicenter of AI development” while accepting a $40 billion investment from Google in the fall of 2025, Abbott has recently changed tack, largely because of the implications of the industry’s insatiable energy demands.
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In light of the staggering 474 gigawatts that various projects in the pipeline require — which is more than five times the peak energy demand ever recorded in Texas — the governor is now demanding greater oversight of new AI campuses, which account for 90% of the large-load interconnection requests in waiting, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) informed him.
“Any data center project that fails to comply with the verification and audit process to protect the reliability and resilience of the Texas electric grid must be denied,” he wrote in a letter to ERCOT’s president and CEO, as well as the chairman of the Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUCT) in early August.
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“Our top priority is to protect Texans’ safety and quality of life,” he explained. “That includes providing affordable energy, maintaining a reliable electric grid, preserving water for our communities and championing Texas values. Those priorities can, and must, be achieved while also creating the jobs and providing the economic opportunity that comes with our national leadership in technological innovation and investment.”
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What the audit entails
The directive brings 1,800 data center developments to a halt, as ERCOT and PUCT will now need to verify that each application to connect to Texas’ grid meets the Governor’s new criteria before moving forward. Notifications that were slated for August 7 under ERCOT’s previous review framework have now been delayed.
Abbott has laid out a list of additional information that data center applicants will need to provide, including project financials (who the controlling interests are and whether they are “paying their own way or depending on the state”); proposed power and water usage (whether centers will provide their own power/water or rely on public systems, and also how much electricity/water they intend to use); and plans to reduce the noise, light, traffic and other pollution these megastructures are known to emit.
These points reflect specific concerns raised by community members, and also the fact that, as Abbott states in his letter, the majority of existing data centers in the state — a whopping 83% of 341 of them — have failed to disclose their utilities use to the relevant authorities despite being legally required to do so.
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Becky Robertson is a senior staff reporter at Moneywise and a lifelong writer. Along with more than a decade covering news at outlets like blogTO and Quill & Quire, she's attended writing residencies around the world. With 33 countries visited, she finds travel to be among her greatest inspirations.
