{"id":384432,"date":"2026-07-23T22:59:59","date_gmt":"2026-07-23T22:59:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/384432\/"},"modified":"2026-07-23T22:59:59","modified_gmt":"2026-07-23T22:59:59","slug":"texas-sid-miller-james-talarico-back-data-center-regulations-as-texans-issue-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/384432\/","title":{"rendered":"Texas\u2019 Sid Miller, James Talarico back data center regulations as Texans issue"},"content":{"rendered":"

AUSTIN, Texas \u2014 As communities across Central Texas continue debating the growth and impact of data centers, two Texas politicians from opposite parties are calling for regulations, citing concerns about oversight, water use and the state\u2019s power grid.<\/p>\n

Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller, a Republican, said the issue should not be viewed through a partisan lens. \u201cThis is not a Republican or Democrat issue. This is an issue for Texas and what’s best for Texas,\u201d Miller said.<\/p>\n

Miller said he has been raising concerns about data centers for more than a year, arguing, \u201cThe problem in Texas is we have no oversight; the counties don’t, at least no ordinance-making authority in the county.” He also added, “So [data centers] can just do whatever, they don’t even have building codes really in the county.”<\/p>\n

Democratic State Rep. James Talarico, who is running for U.S. Senate, announced a plan at a press conference today that he said would hold the data center industry accountable. His plan includes lowering utility costs for working Texans and setting minimum federal requirements for new data center projects to protect the grid, the environment and Texas jobs.<\/p>\n

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KEYE<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Talarico said he is open to working across the aisle on the issue. \u201cI’m willing to work with anybody, including the governor, to pass these common-sense regulations,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Talarico also pointed to the rapid development of artificial intelligence as a reason for action. \u201cThis advancement in AI is even more consequential and has the potential to be even more disruptive if we’re not careful,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Asked what it means that both Democrats and Republicans are calling for regulations, Miller welcomed the bipartisan attention. \u201cI’m glad for the Democrats to join this cause. I wish more Republicans would; some have,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The Public Utility Commission of Texas weighed in a letter to Texas Governor Greg Abbott, saying, “Equally important, the reliability of the electric grid must be preserved so that Texans can be assured that power remains available to them even as the system expands to serve new large loads. Texas should welcome responsible economic development, but it must do so in a manner that prioritizes affordability, reliability, and the interests of the residents who depend on the grid.”<\/p>\n

Miller, who will be speaking to a crowd in Bastrop County Wednesday, said he wants regulations focused on water and electricity use. \u201cWhose water are they going to use? How are they going to cool these things? How much electricity? Where’s electricity going to come from? We need to have a moratorium and a special session or one or the other; either one would get us down the road where we need to be,\u201d Miller said.<\/p>\n

Abbott has made previous comments on certain data center restrictions near rural Texas neighborhoods. He has also released a list of data center regulations he wants lawmakers to address in next year\u2019s legislative session.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"AUSTIN, Texas \u2014 As communities across Central Texas continue debating the growth and impact of data centers, two…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":383268,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[132,134,133],"class_list":["post-384432","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-austin","tag-austin","tag-austin-headlines","tag-austin-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/384432","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=384432"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/384432\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/383268"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=384432"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=384432"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=384432"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}