Governor Greg Abbott announced Aug. 12 that Core Scientific, Vantage Data Centers and SB Energy will comply with the statewide standards and guidelines he established for data center development, according to a news release from the governor’s office.
The commitments add three more companies to the list of data center operators falling in line with the governor’s directives. The release said the guidelines are being universally implemented across the state and noted 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,” Abbott said in the release. “They must not pass costs on to Texas families or interfere with their quality of life.”
Earlier this summer, the governor directed the Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUCT) and the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) to ensure 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for Texans, avoid disrupting residential neighborhoods and pay their own way without relying on what the release called outdated taxpayer-funded incentives.
Under those directives, the two grid agencies will examine each data center project’s disclosures, including any taxpayer-funded incentives or abatements tied to the project, projected electricity demand and plans for on-site generation, water sources and reuse procedures, measures to reduce impacts on neighboring property owners such as noise mitigation and setbacks, and full transparency about project ownership. The agencies must receive and audit that information before projects can move forward, according to the release.
“The PUCT and ERCOT cannot make decisions to guarantee grid stability and reliability based on substantially incomplete information,” Abbott said in the release. Any company that fails to comply with ERCOT’s audit process is subject to having its approval denied, the governor’s office said.
Since the directives were issued, the governor’s office said, data centers across the state have either announced full compliance or announced they are ending their projects, keeping grid reliability, water conservation and ratepayer protection at the center of the state’s review of new projects.