Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced Thursday, Sept. 24, that he is launching a statewide investigation into hundreds of data center developments that haven’t responded to the Texas Water Development Board water use survey.
Paxton is investigating data center developments in 18 counties, including Tarrant.
The Star-Telegram contacted Paxton’s office to ask which data center developments were under investigation in Tarrant County but has not yet gotten a response.
Other counties listed in Paxton’s investigation include Dallas, Harris, Bexar, Montgomery, Travis, Smith, Tom Green, Potter, Randall, Lubbock, Midland, Ector, Wichita, Victoria, Brazos, Nueces and El Paso.
Paxton is requiring data centers to provide accurate information about water usage, according to a news release.
The Texas Water Development Board is required to survey entities that use ground water and surface water for municipal, industrial, power generation, or mining purposes.
“My office is currently investigating hundreds of data center developments to ensure that they are transparent about their water usage and fully compliant with the law,” Paxton said in the news release.
“It is our responsibility to steward our state’s land well, and we cannot do that if companies are blatantly disregarding their legal obligations to Texas and to our citizens. We cannot sacrifice our resources, water, or energy supply, and I will continue to fight for our communities across this state.”
Earlier this week, Gov. Greg Abbott issued a directive halting permits for data centers from being issued until the Electric Reliability Council of Texas and the Texas Water Development boards complete their audits of the data centers.
Abbott said in the release that in order to make proper decisions, a full picture of the water and electrical usage and cost of data centers is needed.
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
With my guide dog Freddie, I keep tabs on growth, economic development and other issues in Northeast Tarrant cities and other communities near Fort Worth. I’ve been a reporter at the Star-Telegram for 34 years.