data centers

Last month, Lubbock City Council began the procedure to adopt a pause on large-scale data center development. If the moratorium passes, it will be two years until another one can be put in place. With more information and potential changes likely to come out of the state's legislative session, one councilman has argued that the city should hold off on playing its moratorium card. All the while, the clock may be ticking on the statewide pause on data centers.

The move is the latest in a series of escalating efforts by the governor to slow data center development in Texas ahead of November's election.

A handful of conservative voters in Hood County say they're either voting for Democrats or sitting out the election.

Lubbock City Council accepted a citizens' petition for an 18-month pause on data center development in the city and will be hearing from residents regarding the proposal on Sept. 8. If the council rejects the petition at the hearing, organizers can choose to put it on the ballot in a general election.

Kansas communities exploring data center development must put policies in place to protect residents, the environment and long-term economic growth before building begins, national experts say.

As residents revolt over surge in development, experts say transparency is critical for building trust with a community.

Across the state, fights are erupting in communities where residents’ concerns about water and electricity usage, noise and air pollution, and the threat of artificial intelligence are met with promises of construction jobs and lucrative property tax collections.

The Texas Water Development Board presented the state's water plan at a Texas House natural resources committee hearing yesterday, which does not currently include projections for water usage from data centers.

Energy regulators and industry experts warn that the state’s delays to major projects amid backlash from residents could create rolling blackouts and strangle growth of other industries that need power.

The state's power grid operator had already planned on auditing several data center proposals, but Abbott's directive reworks the timeline and adds new requirements.