Technology

As The Demand For Power To Fuel AI Explodes In US, One State Is Bucking The Trend

Gov. Greg Abbott in 2016 (Gage Skidmore from Peoria, AZ, United States of America / Wikimedia Commons)

Texas’ data center moratorium will cut its projected electricity demand in half — as Lone Star State voters remain highly critical of the artificial intelligence centers.

Data centers have increased American electricity demand nationwide, with one notable exception: Texas, according to the U.S. Energy Information Agency (EIA). The EIA lowered Texas’s projection for electricity demand from 14% to 6% due to Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s pause on data center development. Abbott in early August ordered a moratorium on data center development until the Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUCT) and the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), Texas’s independent grid operator, audit data centers “advancing through ERCOT’s interconnection process,” according to a press release.

Texans remain critical of data center construction in their communities, multiple polls have shown.

“Our top priority is to protect Texans’ safety and quality of life. Any project that fails to comply with the requirements set forth by the PUCT and ERCOT, and by state law, must be denied connection to the Texas grid. Simply put, Texans must come first,” Abbott said in early August.

When asked for comment, Abbott’s team referred the Daily Caller News Foundation to the governor’s directives on data centers.

Data centers account for roughly 90% of the new power requests to the Texas power grid. ERCOT has received over 474 gigawatts of power requests, which exceeds five times the state’s record peak electricity demand for the power grid.

“That unprecedented load growth could endanger the reliability and stability of the Texas electric grid,” the governor’s office stated in the release.

Abbott in June directed PUCT and ERCOT to obtain information about data centers’ use of public assistance, the extent to which data centers provide their own power, how much water data centers use and what measures data centers use to mitigate impact on communities, such as noise mitigation.

Fifty-six percent of Texans oppose the construction of data centers in their communities, while only 29% back construction in their neighborhood, according to a Texas Politics Project poll released in June.

One tech trade group said Abbott’s order could showcase the positive impact of data centers on the state.

“Done correctly, this review can showcase the good actors in the data center industry rather than delaying them unnecessarily, ensuring Texas will continue to be the national leader in economic development,” Data Center Coalition spokesman Dan Diorio wrote in a statement sent to news outlets. The coalition is a trade association representing large tech companies.

Abbott’s decision drew fire from Republicans, Democrats and those in the industry.

“I saw Texas the other day is sort of against data centers. I think it’s a mistake. I think they are tremendously important for the economics. This is, for Texas to say no to data centers, is a mistake — in the sense that it could be bigger than oil. Data centers could be bigger than oil,” President Donald Trump said in August in reaction to Abbott’s moratorium, according to the Houston Chronicle.

“So nice to see another strongly worded letter from Abbott after he proudly made Texas the wild west of data centers. Abbott’s call for a ‘pause’ could be for one day – and no one buys it. He’s taken millions from data center CEOs while giving Texans lip service to non-existent restrictions,” Abbott’s Democratic opponent State Rep. Gina Hinojosa said in an August statement.

Abbott leads Hinojosa by four percent — 49 to 45% — according to an August Emerson College poll. Sixty percent of Texas voters oppose data center construction in or near their community, while 33% support data centers and eight percent remain neutral.

“Without legislative action, this directive is all hat and no cattle — empty political rhetoric wrapped in meaningless fluff. Texans need laws with teeth, not another press release designed to make it look like something is being done while hyperscale projects continue moving forward,” Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller said in August, per the Texas Tribune.