Overview
- The attorney general opened the statewide investigation Thursday into hundreds of data center developments that did not return Texas Water Development Board (TWDB) water‑use surveys.
- Governor Greg Abbott earlier ordered the TWDB to compel survey compliance on Sept. 14 and directed the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality to pause issuing data center permits on Sept. 21 while agencies audit water and power impacts.
- State law requires recipients of TWDB surveys to report groundwater and surface‑water use and assigns penalties for failure to comply, including loss of certain TWDB assistance and possible Class C misdemeanor charges.
- The AG’s legal action joins audits by ERCOT and other state agencies that are assessing whether data centers shift grid costs to ratepayers and whether proposed sites can be supported by local water and electric infrastructure.
- Texas is already a major data center market with more than 300 active sites and plans for many more, and regulators warn that the reporting gap could delay projects, raise financing risk for developers, and affect local water supplies and services.