Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Monday said he’s paused the connection of new data centers to the state’s power grid while regulators audit the projects. However, critics are dismissing the move as “political theater” during a contentious election season.
The moratorium marks a sharp reversal from the Republican governor’s previous open invitation to AI “hyperscaler” companies such as Google, which critics say created the Texas data center gold rush in the first place. Others questioned the sincerity of Abbott’s recent tough talk after taking millions from the industry.
In explaining his temporary moratorium — and apparent about-face — Abbott cited concerns over the reliability of Texas’ standalone electrical grid, the centers’ intense water use and the surge in power demand driven by AI infrastructure.
“Our top priority is to protect Texans’ safety and quality of life,” Abbott said in his statement. “Any project that fails to comply with the requirements set forth by the [Public Utility Commission of Texas] and [Electric Reliability Council of Texas], and by state law, must be denied connection to the Texas grid. Simply put, Texans must come first.”
ERCOT, which oversees the state’s grid, is currently considering more than 474 gigawatts in connection requests, or more than five times Texas’ record peak electricity demand. Roughly 90% of the new power requests are data centers. That unprecedented load growth could endanger the reliability and stability of the Texas electric grid, Abbott said.
However, that’s not how the governor has always talked about data centers.
As recently as November, Abbott touted Texas as the “epicenter of AI development” when he announced Google’s $40 billion investment in the state to boost cloud and AI infrastructure as part of its “Investing in America” initiative.
“This is a Texas-sized investment in the future of our great state,” Abbott said in a statement at the time. “Texas is the epicenter of AI development, where companies can pair innovation with expanding energy. Google’s $40 billion investment makes Texas Google’s largest investment in any state in the country and supports energy efficiency and workforce development in our state. We must ensure that America remains at the forefront of the AI revolution, and Texas is the place where that can happen.”
Abbott’s change in outlook on data centers comes amid a wave of bipartisan disapproval of the industry’s rapid expansion. A whopping 70% of Americans across the political spectrum disapprove of building a data center in their neighborhood, according to a recent Gallup poll.
Abbott is also contending with an unusually competitive race to keep his job against State Rep. Gina Hinojosa, D-Austin, with whom he’s polling neck-and-neck.
In June, Abbott sought to address the growing backlash by directing state regulators to ensure data centers do not pass on costs for new energy infrastructure to ratepayers.
But not everyone bought it.
Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller, a Republican, recently criticized Abbott for the about-face, calling it a “dog-and-pony” show. He also denounced the governor for accepting campaign contributions from AI companies, execs and investors, calling on him to return the funds.
“Governor Abbott has taken millions from the very interests pushing massive data center expansion throughout Texas,” Miller tweeted. “Those contributions are documented in public campaign-finance records. If the governor has truly changed his position, there is only one clear way to prove it. Give the damn money back.”
Those major donors include real estate titan Ed Roski, Jr., who gave $1 million in April, and energy executive Kelcy Warren, who ponied up $500,000 in June, according to the Houston Chronicle. Both Warren and Roski recently announced data center-related projects.
The governor also took $500,000 in donations this year from tech mogul Elon Musk, whose AI progeny Grok is perpetually embroiled in scandal while he advocates for sending data centers into space. Rhett Bennett of Black Mountain, an energy company building data centers across Texas, also gave Abbott $500,000 this year.
That’s $2.5 million this year alone from just a handful of donors who are heavily invested in the AI boom overtaking Texas.
“It’s pretty clear that for Republicans in the state in general — and the governor in particular — the backlash to this really creates conflict with what has been a traditional Republican strength and talking point, and that’s an emphasis on economic development,” James Henson, a political scientist at the University of Texas at Austin, told the Houston Chronicle.
As such, Abbott’s competing motivations are drawing attacks from his political rivals.
“So nice to see another strongly worded letter from Abbott after he proudly made Texas the Wild West of data centers,” Hinojosa said in an emailed statement. “Abbott’s call for a ‘pause’ could be for one day — and no one buys it.”
Both Miller and Clayton Tucker, the Democratic candidate for Texas Agriculture Commissioner, have demanded Abbott call a special session of the Texas Legislature to address the boom in unfettered data center development.
“Governor Abbott’s latest action confirms what Texans have been saying for months: unchecked AI data centers deserve far more scrutiny,” Tucker posted on social media Monday. “If they’re important enough to halt approvals and order statewide audits, they’re important enough for the Texas Legislature to address in a Special Session.”
Hinojosa called on Abbott to extend the pause “until the legislature meets,” which could be as late as January 2027.
“Let’s be very clear about this: Abbott can take action now to end the data center madness,” Hinojosa said. “He could issue a moratorium until the legislature meets to put in place real protections for Texans and give them a seat at the table to decide if and how data centers move into their communities.”
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