Gov. Greg Abbott announced Aug. 14 that Stack Infrastructure, Anthropic and Nightpeak Energy will comply with the standards and guidelines he established for data centers operating in Texas.
The announcement is part of a running series of compliance disclosures from the governor’s office since Abbott set statewide data center standards earlier this summer. His office said the guidelines are being implemented by data centers across the state, and that one data center that could not comply chose to end operations before beginning construction.
“I established clear guardrails to ensure data centers protect our electric grid, conserve our water, respect our neighborhoods, and pay their own way,” said Abbott. “They must not pass costs on to Texas families or interfere with their quality of life.”
Under the directives, Abbott instructed the Public Utility Commission of Texas and the Electric Reliability Council of Texas to ensure that data centers pay for their own electric infrastructure rather than shifting costs onto Texas families and small businesses, reuse their own water, reduce the cost of electricity for Texans, avoid disrupting residential neighborhoods and eliminate reliance on what the governor’s office called outdated taxpayer-funded incentives.
The two agencies are also directed to examine each project individually. According to the governor’s office, that review requires developers to disclose all taxpayer-funded incentives, grants, abatements and other public financial assistance tied to a project; detail projected electricity demand and plans for on-site generation or other measures that reduce reliance on the ERCOT grid; identify water sources, projected water use, reuse procedures and water-efficient cooling technologies; outline noise mitigation, light controls, setbacks, traffic improvements and emergency response coordination; and disclose project ownership and controlling interests.
The commission and ERCOT must receive and audit that information before a project can move forward, the office said. “The PUCT and ERCOT cannot make decisions to guarantee grid stability and reliability based on substantially incomplete information,” Abbott said.
Any company that fails to comply with the ERCOT audit process will be subject to having its approval denied, according to the governor’s office. Texas has drawn a heavy concentration of data center development in recent years, and the standards give state regulators a documented record for each project before it connects to the grid.