The Texas attorney general's office is investigating hundreds of data center developments statewide in the state's latest effort to crack down on data center expansion.
Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxtonannounced on Sept. 24
that his office is investigating data center developments that did not respond to the Texas Water Development Board's survey to ensure they comply with water-use reporting requirements.“It is our responsibility to steward our state’s land well, and we cannot do that if companies are blatantly disregarding their legal obligations to Texas and to our citizens. We cannot sacrifice our resources, water, or energy supply, and I will continue to fight for our communities across this state,” Paxton said in a statement.
The investigation comes three days after Gov. Greg Abbott ordered state environmental regulators to stop issuing permits that data centers need to move. Earlier in the month, Abbott also directed the TWDB to use its statutory authority to compel major water users to comply with the state's water-use reporting requirements and to impose legal consequences for past and future failures to comply with state law.
Paxton's office said data center developments under initial investigation in counties across Texas include those in Harris, Montgomery, Travis, Dallas, Tarrant, Smith, Bexar, Tom Green, Potter, Randall, Lubbock, Midland, Ector, Wichita, Victoria, Brazos, Nueces, and El Paso.
Texas' recent actions regulating data centers
In June, Abbott directed the Public Utilities Commission of Texas and Electric Reliability Council of Texas to ensure data centers do not shift the financial and resource burden onto Texans during expansion and construction.
The regulations took effect in July. But after public testimony to state lawmakers revealed gaps in the data the state requested, the state asked for more information. On Aug. 3, Abbott paused construction of new data centers as the state conducted a full audit of proposed data centers seeking to connect to the state grid to ensure they comply with Abbott's June directive.
Since the audit and regulations were announced, more than 40 companies, including Amazon, Google, OpenAI and Anthropic, have publicly said they will comply with Texas' new data center standards.
On Sept. 14, Abbott directed the Texas Water Development Board to use its statutory authority to compel major water users to comply with the state's water-use reporting requirements and to impose legal consequences for past and future failures to comply with state law.
Seven days later,Abbott, on Sept. 21, ordered the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality to stop issuing permits sought by data centers until ERCOT completes its audit.
Abbott also said no state agency can move forward with data center approvals until the grid and the Texas Water Development Board audit are done, because regulators need that information to make decisions.
Mateo Rosiles is the Texas Connect reporter for USA TODAY and its regional papers in Texas. Got a news tip for him? Email him at mrosiles@usatodayco.com.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Texas AG Paxton investigates hundreds of data centers over water use
