AUSTIN, Texas — State lawmakers are set to take a closer look Wednesday at how the rapid growth of data centers is affecting Texans, following Gov. Greg Abbott’s decision earlier this month to pause approvals for new data centers seeking to connect to the state’s power grid.
The Texas House meeting will examine how data center expansion is impacting the state’s economy, workforce and the reliability of the power grid. Lawmakers also plan to review how local communities’ resources could be affected.
The controversy over data centers has intensified in Texas, where there are more than 530 facilities statewide. Abbott paused approvals for data centers trying to connect to the state’s power grid, citing reliability concerns, after months of heated debate in Texas and across the U.S. about the environmental and economic impacts of the facilities on local communities.
Abbott is also requiring companies to disclose their facilities’ power and water use, cooling options and company ownership. Some Austin residents voiced support for more oversight.
“I mean, I think it’s reasonable to have you know regulations around how they get their power and what water they consume,” said Greg Milliken, an Austinite.
Milliken also said, “The notion that you would be required to provide your own power as part of the infrastructure, building a data center, makes a lot of sense to me.”
Abbott’s actions have drawn criticism from President Donald Trump, who said, “I think it’s a mistake. I’m not taking position. I just think a mistake because there’s a lot of communities that want it. When a community wants it, it means a lot of money is going to come into that community,” in an interview with Punchbowl News.
Abbott has said at least two dozen companies — including Amazon, Google and Microsoft — have agreed to comply with his orders.
As lawmakers weigh the economic benefits of data center growth, they are also expected to consider the pressure the facilities could put on the state’s workforce, communities and power grid.
“I think we should take help of experts who might be researching about this topic get the stats rightly done, and then based on that, take the decisions,” said Gaurev Garg, an Austinite.