As artificial intelligence data centers spread rapidly across Texas, so does the political backlash surrounding them, and the state government has now stepped in. Governor Greg Abbott is responding to the boom by ordering state audits of proposed data centers before they can connect to the Texas power grid, an intervention that comes as questions mount over how much the sprawling campuses will demand from the state's electricity and water systems.
Supporters of the projects argue that the massive campuses are worth welcoming. They say the developments promise billions of dollars in investment and thousands of jobs, and that they could help the United States stay ahead of China in the race to build out the computing power that underpins artificial intelligence, framing the data centers as strategic assets as much as economic ones.
Opponents, however, worry that ordinary residents will end up paying the price. They fear the data centers will drive up electricity costs and place greater demands on already limited water supplies, and some residents have framed their objections in personal terms, questioning what the arrival of the facilities will mean for their quality of life and their day-to-day surroundings.
Abbott's audit is aimed squarely at those concerns, requiring scrutiny of the projects before any grid connection is approved. The move comes as worries grow over whether an already strained electric grid can keep pace with the massive increase in demand, a central question for a state whose power system has faced repeated stress in recent years.
The governor has set out conditions he wants the industry to meet. Abbott said he wants the companies to bring their own money, bring their own power, and reuse their own water, and to do it in a way that reduces the cost of electricity for residents across the state, rather than shifting the burden of their enormous energy appetite onto Texas households.
The issue has also opened a political fault line. Democratic gubernatorial nominee Gina Hinojosa said Abbott acted too late and called for an end to the rich subsidies he approved for the data centers, which she argued is why so many are pouring in and trying to get in under the wire. With most of the new centers proposed for rural parts of the state, Republicans are working to protect their base while Democrats, who have not won a statewide election in Texas for 30 years, see a rare opening in communities they have long struggled to reach, a dynamic playing out from Ohio to Wisconsin and Pennsylvania as well.