- Texas Governor Greg Abbott directed the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality to stop issuing new permits for data centers until regulators finish a broad audit of facilities seeking to connect to the Texas electrical grid.
- The directive effectively freezes all new state-issued data center permits, hitting the power-intensive buildout tied to AI and cloud demand in the largest US data center market.
- The audit focuses on grid connectivity for energy-hungry facilities, putting load forecasts and interconnection timelines for planned Texas projects under review.
Quotes
“Texas Governor Greg Abbott on Monday barred the state's environmental agency from issuing new permits for data centers until regulators complete a massive audit of the energy-hungry facilities seeking to connect to the Texas electrical grid.”
“The Republican governor's directive to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality effectively freezes all”