Overview
- A University of Texas poll of 1,200 registered voters found 56% oppose building data centers in their communities, with opposition strongest in rural areas and likely to shape 2026 and 2027 politics.
- Lawmakers held a lengthy hearing on Tuesday to press operators about water use and found very low compliance with state surveys, with the Texas Water Development Board reporting a 17% response rate and the PUC receiving replies from 28 companies covering 92 facilities.
- State officials including Gov. Greg Abbott have directed regulators to stop ratepayers from shouldering grid upgrade costs and urged rules requiring water‑efficient cooling and annual reporting of electricity and water use.
- At the federal level the bipartisan Ratepayer Protection Act cleared a subcommittee step with endorsements from some tech firms and promises to push large users to pay for new generation and transmission, though critics say it leaves gaps and some Democrats call for broader moratoria.
- Rapid buildout that swelled Texas from about 22 data centers in 2023 to hundreds last year has left water planners without reliable data and raised clear policy choices about enforcement, local control, tax incentives and tradeoffs between water and energy use.