Greg Abbott Warns Data Centers They 'Must Bring Their Own Power'

In an interview with NewsNation, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott warned data centers they "must bring their own power", citing concerns over Texans' quality of life.

What did the Governor say?

• Abbott: "We will slash incentives and protect Texas neighborhoods. Those are bottom line expectations."

As data center development booms in the state of Texas, the state's pro-business environment is now regulating data center electricity use.

"Data centers must bring their own power, they must reuse their own water, and they must reduce electricity costs for residential and small business customers," Abbott told NewsNation.

In a letter to the state legislature earlier this month, Abbott outlined recommendations for data center regulation for the 2027 session. The Governor directed the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) and Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) to protect residential ratepayers from the electricity costs of data centers.

“Data centers must operate in ways that reduce costs for residential electricity customers, do not drain water needed for our communities, and take into consideration the needs of our neighborhoods,” said Abbott.

Data centers have been projected to use more power than the Texas grid can handle and future planned projects will strain the grid even more.

Texas leads the nation as the state with the second-most operational data centers, with 212 in the state. However, 140 projects are under construction and 610 have been announced, making Texas take over Virginia as the data center leader in the U.S.

Texas is fighting back on data center development as the state becomes the nation's leader in for data centers.