Texas: Governor Abbott Announces Data Center Coalition Commits To Comply With His Data Center Standards

~ In a recent announcement, Governor Greg Abbott revealed that the Data Center Coalition, a membership coalition for the data center sector, will be adhering to the standards and guidelines set by the governor himself.

According to Governor Abbott, these guidelines and guardrails have proven to be effective as they have been universally implemented by data centers throughout the state. In fact, one data center that was unable to comply with these standards chose to cease operations before even beginning construction.

The governor stated, "I established clear guardrails to ensure data centers protect our electric grid, conserve our water, respect our neighborhoods, and pay their own way. They must not pass costs on to Texas families or interfere with their quality of life."

Earlier this summer, Governor Abbott set forth statewide standards in order to ensure that the development of data centers does not come at the expense of Texas families or communities. He directed the Public Utilities Commission of Texas (PUCT) and the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) to ensure that data centers:

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- Pay for their own electric infrastructure instead of shifting costs onto Texas families and small businesses.

- Reuse their own water.

- Reduce electricity costs for Texans.

- Do not disrupt residential neighborhoods in order to preserve quality of life in Texas.

- Pay their own way and eliminate reliance on outdated taxpayer-funded incentives.

Additionally, PUCT and ERCOT will thoroughly examine each data center project in terms of 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.

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- Provide full transparency by disclosing project ownership and controlling interests.

Before any data center projects can move forward, PUCT and ERCOT must receive and audit this information.

Governor Abbott emphasized the importance of this information being disclosed, stating that "the PUCT and ERCOT cannot make decisions to guarantee grid stability and reliability based on substantially incomplete information." Any data center company that fails to comply with ERCOT's audit process will face the possibility of having their approval denied.

Since Governor Abbott's directives were issued, data centers across the state have either announced their full compliance or have chosen to end their data center projects. These standards serve as guardrails to protect our communities.

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