Overview
- Texas Governor Greg Abbott ordered a temporary pause on new requests to connect data centers to the state grid while regulators review whether the projects threaten reliability and who will pay for upgrades.
- President Donald Trump publicly pushed back in a Friday interview, calling the pause a “mistake,” urging states to welcome data centers and saying the industry “could be bigger than oil.”
- The issue has become a bipartisan election theme with candidates from both parties promising moratoriums or tighter rules, and several recent primary winners used opposition to local data centers in their campaigns.
- Residents and activists cite rising electric bills, heavy water use for cooling, noise, property‑value impacts and reported electrical surges, and watchdog Data Centre Watch says about 75 U.S. projects worth roughly $130 billion have been blocked or delayed.
- Federal responses include a voluntary White House Ratepayer Protection Pledge expanded to many industry players and a House bill that would require big customers to fund grid upgrades, leaving enforcement to regulators and utilities and shaping where projects can move forward.