Governor Greg Abbott announced Aug. 11 that Oracle will comply with the standards and guidelines he established for data center development in Texas.
“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 a news release from his office. “They must not pass costs on to Texas families or interfere with their quality of life.”
The commitment adds Oracle to the list of companies agreeing to statewide standards the governor established earlier this summer, which he said are designed to ensure data center development does not come at the expense of Texas families or communities. Under those directives, the governor instructed the Public Utility Commission of Texas and the Electric Reliability Council of Texas to ensure data centers pay for their own electric infrastructure rather than shifting costs onto 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 taxpayer-funded incentives, according to the release.
The PUCT and ERCOT will also examine each data center project’s disclosures, including taxpayer-funded incentives, grants and abatements tied to the project; projected electricity demand and plans for on-site generation or other measures to reduce reliance on the ERCOT grid; water sources, projected water use, reuse procedures and water-efficient cooling technologies; and measures to reduce impacts on neighboring property owners such as noise mitigation, light controls, setbacks, traffic improvements and emergency response coordination. Companies must also disclose project ownership and controlling interests, the release stated. The two agencies must receive and audit this information before data center projects can move forward.
“The PUCT and ERCOT cannot make decisions to guarantee grid stability and reliability based on substantially incomplete information,” Abbott said. Any data center company that fails to comply with ERCOT’s audit process is subject to having its approval denied, according to the release.
The governor’s office said that since the directives were issued, data centers across the state have either announced full compliance or announced they are ending their projects, adding that the standards provide guardrails that protect Texas communities.