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AUSTIN — Earlier this summer, Gov. Greg Abbott established clear, consistent statewide standards to ensure data center expansion does not come at the expense of Texas families or communities.
Abbott announced Aug. 10 that Open AI has agreed to the standards and guidelines he instituted for data centers.
“I established clear guardrails to ensure data centers protect our electric grid, conserve our water, respect our neighborhoods, and pay their own way,” said Abbott.
Abbott directed the Public Utilities Commission of Texas and the Electric Reliability Council of Texas to ensure data centers: Pay for their electric infrastructure instead of shifting costs onto Texas families and small businesses.
Reuse their own water. Reduce the cost of electricity for Texans.
Do not disrupt residential neighborhoods to preserve Texas’ quality of life.
Pay their own way and eliminate reliance on outdated taxpayer-funded incentives.
“They must not pass costs on to Texas families or interfere with their quality of life,” Abbott said.
PUCT and ERCOT will also examine each data center project and determine how they will: Pay their own way by disclosing all taxpayer-funded incentives, grants, abatements, and other public financial assistance tied to the project.
Provide their own power by detailing projected electricity demand and plans for on-site generation or other measures to reduce reliance on the ERCOT grid.
Protect Texas water resources by identifying water sources, projected water use, water reuse procedures, and water-efficient cooling technologies.
Outline measures to reduce impacts on neighboring property owners and communities, including noise mitigation, light controls, setbacks, traffic improvements, emergency response coordination, and other community protection measures.
Provide full transparency by disclosing project ownership and controlling interests.
PUCT and ERCOT must receive and audit this information before data center projects can move forward.
“(They) cannot make decisions to guarantee grid stability and reliability based on substantially incomplete information,” Abbott added.
Any data center company that fails to comply with ERCOT’s audit process will be subject to having its approval denied, state officials said.
Since Abbott issued these directives, data centers across the state have either announced full compliance or announced that they are ending their data center projects.
