Texas Governor Greg Abbott drew widespread praise earlier this month when he announced a moratorium on all data center connections to ERCOT, the state’s main electricity grid, until the state utility regulator and ERCOT’s grid operator have completed an audit of data center impacts to the electricity grid, tax revenues, water, and other community resources.
Ten gas-powered turbines on the site of a Stargate data center in Abilene Texas are allowed to emit more than 1.6 million tons of greenhouse gases and 1,000 tons of harmful air pollutants every year, according to "minor source" permits granted by Texas regulators without any public input.
EVAN SIMON / FLOODLIGHT
Governor Abbott joins with New York Governor Kathy Hochul and dozens of local governments across the country that have paused data center approvals to allow for a better understanding of the tech industry’s harms to communities and to implement strategies to mitigate those impacts.
But Abbott’s data center pause offers false expectations of a comprehensive audit. In addition to omitting grid-connected Texas projects outside of ERCOT, and failing to address the continued issuance of construction permits for data centers, it completely excludes the large and growing number of data centers not seeking a connection to the public grid. Developers flocking to Texas to build private grids with massive gas-fired power plants, often referred to as “behind the meter” (BTM) power plants, will inexplicably avoid scrutiny.
