Attorney General Ken Paxton is investigating hundreds of Texas data center developments that have not responded to the Texas Water Development Board’s water use survey, according to a Sept. 24 news release from the Office of the Attorney General.
Under Texas law, the Texas Water Development Board is required to conduct surveys of entities that use ground water and surface water for municipal, industrial, power generation or mining purposes, the release said. Paxton is demanding that all data centers in Texas meet this requirement by submitting a survey response in full compliance with the law, and the Office of the Attorney General has launched an ongoing investigation into all data center developments in the state.
“My office is currently investigating hundreds of data center developments to ensure that they are transparent about their water usage and fully compliant with the law,” Paxton said in the release. “It is our responsibility to steward our state’s land well, and we cannot do that if companies are blatantly disregarding their legal obligations to Texas and to our citizens. We cannot sacrifice our resources, water, or energy supply, and I will continue to fight for our communities across this state.”
According to the attorney general’s office, data centers are under initial investigation in counties across the state, including Harris, Montgomery, Travis, Dallas, Tarrant, Smith, Bexar, Tom Green, Potter, Randall, Lubbock, Midland, Ector, Wichita, Victoria, Brazos, Nueces and El Paso counties.
The investigation comes amid a rapid buildout of data center capacity across Texas, driven in large part by demand for artificial intelligence computing, which has drawn scrutiny from state officials over the facilities’ water and electricity consumption. Paxton’s office said it will continue to ensure that all data center developments in Texas provide up-to-date and accurate information regarding their water usage going forward.