Data Centers in Texas: Why People Are Sounding the Alarm
By Austin Valentine
It is no secret that the artificial intelligence boom has pointed tech companies towards Texas as the ideal building ground for data centers. In large part due to business-friendly tax structures, minimal regulations, and copious amounts of land, Texas now ranks first among the states by number of data centers.
The fast-paced nature of the industry has seen data centers approved with little consideration for non-immediate consequences. Here is a brief overview of some of the major concerns for Texas.
Energy
Data centers demand a lot of energy, posing a threat to Texas’ power grid and creating potential energy scarcity that will send energy bills for working Texans higher. It was not very long ago, in February 2021, when a winter storm revealed critical vulnerabilities within the state’s electrical network, leaving millions without electricity for days on end. Energy consumption in Texas will increase as data centers are built, raising questions about whether the power grid can handle the load. In a state with extreme weather, year-round air conditioning and heating are non-negotiable. While winter storms eventually end, data centers, and the issues that come with them, are built to last.
Water
Texas currently faces the possibility of a water crisis. For the last few years, much of the state has been in an extreme drought, with water restrictions in place for residents. At the same time, Texas counties – often because the state law leaves them with no choice – to authorize the construction of data centers that require millions of gallons of water per year for power and cooling. Rather than requiring data centers to incorporate sustainable water practices for authorization, Texas authorizes projects unconditionally. In effect, tech companies can consume the precious resource in whatever quantities they like.
Pollution
Further complicating the issue of water in Texas is that pollutants from data centers could seep into groundwater. It is especially a concern for small communities situated next to large data centers or data campuses, as chemicals and heavy metals are released in larger quantities and concentrated in smaller water supplies. Residents living in rural Georgia have reported sediment buildup in their tap water following the construction of Meta’s nearby data center. As the data center is much older than most in Texas, there is a widespread fear that what has happened in rural Georgia marks the future for rural Texas.
Other pollution concerns pertain to air emissions coming from data centers. Ozone concentrations at ground level are already high in much of Texas, a product of air emissions from factories and vehicles. As higher ozone levels threaten respiratory processes, the rapid addition of hundreds of data centers that produce ozone is cause for concern. After all, reports of lung irritation and breathing difficulties have increased amongst populations following the construction of nearby data centers.
What Next?
While several Texas counties have committed to fighting data centers from building in their area, state leaders in Austin have welcomed data centers. If the quantity continues to rise and/or preexisting operations continue to consume resources at their current level, the concerns highlighted above will become too great to ignore. It is paramount that Texas be proactive about the consequences of data centers. Waiting for the next legislative session to start addressing issues means tangible change will not occur for at least a year. The safest thing Texas can do is implement a statewide moratorium now until enough information is gathered to make decisions in the legislature.
Austin Valentine is a student studying Communications at Trinity University and is a Communications Intern with Public Citizen’s Texas office.