Texas Gov. Abbott says data centers should be barred from 'rural neighborhoods'

Mary Ella Hastings, Fort Worth Star-Telegram on Jul 1, 2026

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Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said AI data centers must be prohibited from being built in rural neighborhoods.

Speaking Tuesday at a campaign event in Bullard, Texas, Abbott said he has already made it clear that data centers wanting to build in Texas need to bring their own money, power, and water.

“We must prohibit them from building AI data centers in rural Texas neighborhoods, and we must eliminate the tax break they are getting,” Abbott said at the event.

In a June 10. letter Abbott ordered state regulators to shield Texans from the electricity costs related to data centers. He also said data centers must be built water efficient technologies and large ones must report annual water and electricity use to the Public Utility Commission of Texas.

“Everything the Governor said tracks with his June 10th letter. As the Governor said in the letter, he will work with lawmakers to ensure local communities are not adversely impacted,” Abbott spokesperson Eduardo Leal said.

Data centers have been a recurring topic of discussion in North Texas with advocacy groups in Fort Worth calling for a moratorium.

“The public deserves answers,” said Ann Zadeh, a former City Council member and the executive director of Community Design Fort Worth, an urban planning nonprofit organization, following a council meeting on June 2. “Data centers are a major industrial facility with real impacts on water, energy, noise, and long-term land use. Cities across the country have paused approvals to study these issues. That’s simply good planning.”

Parker County commissioners approved a resolution on June 9. that established a “countywide policy not to approve, grant, or execute any tax abatements, economic development agreements, or “other county-level tax incentives” for proposed and existing data centers “within the jurisdiction of Parker County.”

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