Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Monday directed the Texas Water Development Board (TWDB) to punish data centers and other large water users that have failed to file required usage surveys, and to use its authority if they miss the same reports again.
The governor’s office said those operators “appear to have committed civil and criminal violations” by withholding information the board needs to write the state water plan.
Research by Sergio Toro, CEO of market intelligence group Aterio, found hundreds of planned or under-construction sites in water-stressed states, such as Texas. Hyperscale plants built for AI workloads have been estimated to consume about 200 million gallons of water a year.Attorney General Ken Paxton, now running for U.S. Senate, said in August he wants closed-loop cooling required and data centers barred from rural neighborhoods. He said data centers should “fund their electricity and ensure they are adding to Texas’ electric capacity, not detracting from it, and mandate closed-loop water systems for cooling.”We had a problem loading this article. Please enable javascript or use a different browser. If the issue persists, please visit our help center.
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