AUSTIN, Texas — The pressure is on Governor Greg Abbott as data center opponents push for a special legislative session on the massive artificial intelligence sites. A recent poll by UT’s Texas Politics Project showed 56% of Texans oppose building data centers in their communities.
Grassroots organizers said it is time to turn up the volume on their demands for Governor Abbott to “press pause on data centers.
“We are not asking any longer. We are down on our knees, and we are begging. We are asking you to have an emergency legislative session or at least pass a moratorium,” said protestor Linda Pauley.
There are 129 data centers operating in Texas and 250 planned projects, according to energy research firm Cleanview. The biggest concerns about proliferation are heavy water usage, rising electricity bills, and strain on the power grid.
“Why will Governor Abbott not call a special session? Why will he not pass a moratorium to just put this on hold?” said Pauley.
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CBS Austin asked the Governor’s Office for a response to that question and got the following statement from Press Secretary Andrew Mahaleris.
“Governor Abbott has been clear that data centers cannot come before Texas families. That is why he directed the PUC and ERCOT to require data centers to pay for their own infrastructure, bring their own power, reuse their own water, and lower residential electric bills. These steps protect Texans from higher costs and negative impacts on their communities. Governor Abbott will continue to work with the Legislature to protect Texans and ensure their voices are heard.”
Monday’s grassroots call for action was timed to coincide with a Senate Finance Committee hearing investigating the costs and benefits of the current sales tax exemption for data centers.
“It is time, and it is appropriate, and it is necessary actually for the legislature to reexamine whether this exemption still delivers a return that justifies its rapidly mounting foregone tax revenue. No tax exemption should operate on autopilot,” said State Senator Joan Huffman, Chair of the Texas Senate Finance Committee.
Lawmakers asked testifying experts whether Texas will remain as attractive to data center developers without a tax break.
“Texas is now the second largest co-location multi-tenant data center market in the country, the Dallas/Fort Worth metro area, and that all happened without any sales tax exemption,” said Brad Reynolds, Chief Revenue Estimator for the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts.
The Senate Finance Committee is evaluating whether the sales tax exemption should potentially be kept, changed, or done away with during the upcoming legislative session that starts in January.