Gov. Greg Abbott (R-TX) on Tuesday said he backed a ban on building data centers in rural Texas neighborhoods, as debate grows about their place in the state. Abbott has long toed the line between supporting data center expansion, calling Texas the “epicenter” of artificial intelligence, and pressing for regulation that requires developers to assume the weight of growth. During an event this week in Bullard, a town about 110 miles southeast of Dallas, he said “fighting for East Texas values” meant “pushing back against these AI data centers that are trying to build in our neighborhoods.”“We must prohibit them from building AI data centers in rural Texas neighborhoods,” Abbott told attendees.
The governor’s comments come as Texas builds data centers, which are essential for powering the technology grid and AI, at one of the country’s fastest rates. Proposals for them in certain Lone Star state communities have raised debate over whether local authorities or the state hold the power to decide where data centers should be. The debate is playing out in San Marcos, a city between San Antonio and Austin, where city officials recently banned data centers, triggering a coming lawsuit from Republican state Sen. Paul Bettencourt. Elsewhere, many Republican officials in the deep-red state are broadly supportive of data centers but have expressed concern about the speed of their development, with some asking Abbott to issue a moratorium on building new hubs to give them time to be developed with a long-term view. Republican state Rep. Helen Kerwin, who represents a rural area that data center developers are eying, is one of those lawmakers. She urged Abbott this year to pause data center development in rural communities, after raising questions about one planned in Somervell County, an hour and a half southwest of Dallas. “Texas must remain competitive in the global race for advanced technology, AI, and energy security,” Kerwin wrote in a letter to the governor in March. “Because of this, it is imperative that we get the foundational policies right from the beginning … I look forward to working with you to ensure that Texas approaches this rapidly evolving sector with both vision and responsibility.” Abbott’s move on Tuesday earned high praise from Kerwin.“BRAVO! … THANK YOU for listening to the voices of Rural Texas,” she wrote in a post on X. “This is a testament to the countless landowners, local leaders, and RURAL TEXANS who stood up and made their voices heard. Your advocacy mattered.”During the Bullard event, the governor also referenced a series of requests he made to state legislators earlier this month, in which he urged them to pass certain data center regulations. FIRST TEXAS CITY TO BAN DATA CENTERS FACES POWER TEST WITH CHALLENGE FROM STATE SENATORMany of his suggestions, including making data centers use closed-loop cooling systems to preserve water and build out their own energy and electricity grid, are policies that are already widely embraced by technology companies and developers.“I’d make clear already any AI data center, even thinking about coming here, they got to bring their own money, bring their own power, reuse their own water, and do it in a way that reduces the cost of electricity for residents across our state,” Abbott said. “We must eliminate the tax break they are getting. They must be responsible for funding their own projects here in Texas. We will get that done.”
