As more data centers come online in Texas, conversations about how to plan for and oversee these facilities should be a priority for the 2027 legislative session.
Every chatbot response, photo stored in the cloud and text message sent depends on vast warehouses of servers and computers humming somewhere, and increasingly that somewhere is Texas.
Texas currently has about 411 data centers scattered across the state and is on track to become one of the largest data center markets. A recent report by Bloom Energy, a company that provides onsite power for these electricity hungry facilities, found that Texas’ data center load is expected to more than double by 2028.
As Texas prepares for this surge, lawmakers should take a closer look at whether current regulatory frameworks are equipped to handle it. That includes understanding how new facilities will affect electricity demand, how they will connect to the grid and what oversight is needed for data centers that are on the Texas grid as well as those that have their own power sources.
There’s a lot we still don’t know about data centers, including what responsibility developers should bear when facilities reach the end of their life cycles.
At the local level, we are starting to see how some of these uncertainties are playing out. On Tuesday, the Fort Worth City Council voted to delay a decision on a tax agreement for a proposed $1.1 billion data center.
Rural communities, where many of these projects are proposed, face uncertainty about land use, tax incentives and environmental impact, often without clear guidance from the state.
Fort Worth’s decision to take a beat to think on the proposal is pragmatic.
Texas lawmakers should follow that example, taking the time now to study, plan and set guardrails before the data center boom outpaces the state’s ability to manage it.