{"id":291306,"date":"2026-05-13T14:43:17","date_gmt":"2026-05-13T14:43:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/291306\/"},"modified":"2026-05-13T14:43:17","modified_gmt":"2026-05-13T14:43:17","slug":"escobar-asks-psb-to-provide-safeguards-for-data-center-projects","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/291306\/","title":{"rendered":"Escobar asks PSB to provide \u2018safeguards\u2019 for data center projects"},"content":{"rendered":"

EL PASO, Texas (KTSM<\/a>) \u2014 U.S. Rep. Veronica Escobar, D-Texas, has sent a letter to members of the Public Service Board, which oversees El Paso Water, asking them to prioritize El Pasoans and ensure transparency and accountability from data center projects.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m writing to ask that the PSB swiftly act to provide safeguards for our community as we see AI data centers proliferate in our region,\u201d she wrote.<\/p>\n

Escobar said that adding multiple large volume industrial water users \u2014 specifically data centers \u2014 \u201cthreatens to strain our already limited water supply,\u201d Escobar said.<\/p>\n

\u201cGiven the sacrifices El Pasoans have been willing to make and the increases in utility bills over time, it\u2019s no wonder El Pasoans are deeply alarmed. It\u2019s crucial that the PSB and EP Water create safeguards that protect ratepayers and users from the unexpected and significant demands and water usage that come with data centers,\u201d she wrote.<\/p>\n

She also outlined a series of suggestions for the PSB. These consist of:<\/p>\n

Contractually obligating all AI data centers to use the \u201cclosed loop\u201d liquid cooling system for cooling that recycles water;<\/p>\n

Clear metering that can be reported regularly to the PSB;<\/p>\n

Transparency and reporting requirements that would ensure real-time reporting to the community and full public disclosure of usage:<\/p>\n

Ensuring commercial users like AI data centers are contractually obligated to subsidize infrastructure improvements rather than shifting the cost to residential ratepayers;<\/p>\n

Protections for the community during periods of drought, prioritizing residential and existing commercial users over AI data center users;<\/p>\n

A separate rate structure for data centers, including system development fees, charging for peak capacity, and up-front capital contributions; and<\/p>\n

Ensuring the investment that has been promised by Meta (and any other data center) is made and is appropriately deployed to sustainability.<\/p>\n

Here is the full text of the letter:<\/p>\n

5.8.26_letter_to_psb<\/a>Download<\/a><\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.<\/p>\n

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTSM 9 News. <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) \u2014 U.S. Rep. Veronica Escobar, D-Texas, has sent a letter to members of the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":291307,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[5404,5421,138,140,139,5768,34722,2569,19454],"class_list":["post-291306","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-el-paso","tag-ai-data-center","tag-data-center","tag-el-paso","tag-el-paso-headlines","tag-el-paso-news","tag-el-paso-water","tag-el-pasoans","tag-veronica-escobar","tag-water-usage"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/291306","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=291306"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/291306\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/291307"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=291306"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=291306"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=291306"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}