Texas Data Center Projects Stall Ahead of November Elections, Inside Climate News Reports
New data center developments in Texas are essentially paused until after the November elections amid severe opposition to the projects, according to Inside Climate News.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott moved to tighten state oversight over the course of the year. In August, Abbott ordered the state utilities regulator, the Public Utility Commission, and the grid operator, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), to audit how much power and water every data center project under development would consume, Inside Climate News reported.
In September, Abbott ordered the Texas Water Development Board (TWDB) to enforce water-use reporting requirements on data center projects, according to the outlet.
Abbott's press secretary, Mahaleris, said data centers must pay their own way, protect the grid and water, and complete the ERCOT and TWDB audits. "Until they do, no state agency will issue related permits, and any project that fails those standards will be denied," Mahaleris said in a statement to Inside Climate News.
Source: insideclimatenews.org (opens in a new tab)1 sourcePermalink