Texas Governor-elect Gina Hinojosa said Thursday that the state will introduce legislation to protect residents from the impact of data centers, particularly in rural areas. She told CNN that data centers have established operations mainly in rural communities without regulatory safeguards for Texans.
Hinojosa, a Democrat, defeated Republican incumbent Greg Abbott in Tuesday's midterm election. Abbott had earlier become one of the first Republican governors in the country to stop new data center connections to the state's electric grid and ordered a full audit of existing projects.
According to the report, Texas has become a major location for data center development because of its energy resources, affordable land and business-friendly policies. The Trump administration has promoted data center expansion as a national priority. Public opposition has grown over electricity use, water consumption, effects on wildlife and access to federal lands. The report says voter opposition to the buildout was a key factor in the midterm elections.
Billionaire Elon Musk backed Abbott and spent $158 million supporting Republican U.S. Senate candidate Ken Paxton, who lost to Democrat James Talarico. Following the Democratic victory, Musk repeated his proposal to build data centers in space.