Texas voters have a new issue on their minds. In the Fox News poll of likely Texas voters reported by FOX 4, 34% called data centers extremely important to their vote and another 34% called them very important. Only 31% said they were not very or not at all important.
The reason is the size of the demand. ERCOT says large energy users have requested 474 gigawatts of power, more than five times what the entire state used at its record peak, Texas Standard reported. About 90% of those requests come from data centers.
Gov. Greg Abbott responded on Aug. 3 with a letter directing the Public Utility Commission and ERCOT to stop connecting new data centers to the grid until an audit is done. The audit covers each project’s financing and tax incentives, projected power use and on-site generation, water use and cooling, community impacts such as noise, lighting and traffic, and who owns and controls each project. ERCOT also postponed its “Batch Zero” transmission study.
The issue now cuts across party lines. Abbott supports tighter data center rules and ending their tax breaks, the Tyler Morning Telegraph reports. Democrat Gina Hinojosa wants a moratorium on new data centers until protections are passed and their tax breaks end. Libertarian Pat Dixon opposes tax incentives for them altogether.
Why it matters. Texans remember February 2021. Every gigawatt promised to a server farm is a gigawatt that has to be there on the coldest night of the year, and every gallon of cooling water comes out of the same aquifers ranchers and towns depend on. Asking who pays, who benefits and who owns these projects is basic stewardship.
The other side. The tech and power industries argue data centers bring jobs, property-tax base and private investment in new generation; Hinojosa argues Abbott’s approach still “send[s] the bill to Texans.”
Open questions. When the PUC and ERCOT audit will be finished, and whether the 2027 Legislature will end data center tax breaks.
