Andrew Schneider/Houston Public Media
Gov. Greg Abbott is touting major technology companies’ responses to his temporary moratorium on data centers, following recent criticism from President Donald Trump
“I established clear guardrails to ensure data centers protect our electric grid, conserve our water, respect our neighborhoods, and pay their own way,” Abbott said in a statement. “They must not pass costs on to Texas families or interfere with their quality of life.”
The governor issued adirectivelast week, announcing that no new data centers could connect to the Texas power grid until state regulators conducted a thorough review of their energy and water usage, as well as their impact on nearby communities
It’s a reversal of the governor’s previous stance. Abbott once courted data centers, calling Texas “the epicenter of AI development” in November
In an interview with Punchbowl News late last week, Trump criticized changes to Texas’ data center policy
“I saw Texas the other day sort of is against data centers,” Trump said. “I think that’s a mistake.”
Meanwhile, major technology companies have signaled their willingness to comply with Abbott’s recent directives, which called for data centers to bring their own energy infrastructure to Texas and reduce their water usage
Meta, the owner of Facebook and Instagram, issued astatementon Monday, saying the company pays for its own infrastructure to connect data centers to the power grid. The company also announced the launch of a new fund to invest in water and energy infrastructure, educators and first responders
Google also touted a “$40 billion investment” in Texas infrastructure and jobs
“We share Gov. Abbott’s commitment to ensure data centers are developed the right way and support high standards for data center providers — which includes paying for the energy and infrastructure needed to power data center growth, and demonstrating grid reliability, water stewardship, and community transparency,” a Google spokesperson said in a statement
In aletter to the governor, OpenAI pledged to pay for its own infrastructure, support newg to a press release from Abbott’s office, Amazon also sent a letter to the governor, promising to comply with his standards for data centers
Data centers are requesting 474 gigawatts of energy from the Texas power grid over the next few years — more than five times the amount of energy used to power the entire state during record-breaking demand. The state has the country’sfastest-growing data center market
But some of the governor’s critics have expressed skepticism of these companies’ swift responses. Abbott’s political opponents haveurged himto call a special legislative session to pass new regulations for data centers
“We need a moratorium on data centers until the legislature can meet to put in place real protections so Texans can have a seat at the table to decide if and how data centers come into their communities,” Austin state Rep. Gina Hinojosa, the Democratic nominee for governor, said in a statement. “When the companies being regulated are cheering for the rules, you know the rules were written for them, not for Texans.”
