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Texas is auditing hundreds of proposed data centers as communities across the U.S. push back against rising costs of the AI boom
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A version of this article originally appeared in Quartz’s AI & Tech newsletter. Sign up here to get the latest AI & tech news, analysis and insights straight to your inbox.
Last week, Greg Abbott $ABT, the governor of Texas, ordered regulators to audit every data center waiting for a spot on the state's electricity grid. The order froze the first stage of ERCOT’s new review process for large power users. The Texas grid operator is sorting through requests for 474 gigawatts of new electricity — more than five times the state’s record peak demand — and Abbott says roughly 90% of it is for data centers.
