Data Center Coalition responds to growing backlash in Texas

Controversy over data centers in Texas

The construction of data centers is a growing political issue in Central Texas and across the state. UT researchers released a study about how these high-tech facilities will impact the state over the next decade. Today, a coalition for the data center industry started to push back on the push back.

AUSTIN, Texas - The construction of data centers is a growing political issue in Central Texas and across the state. 

UT researchers released a study about how these high-tech facilities will impact the state over the next decade. 

Today, a coalition for the data center industry started to push back on the pushback.

The backstory:

Data centers are described as the backbone of the 21st century economy, but they have also quickly become the new political boogieman. This hi-tech hot button issue is factoring into local, state and even national politics. 

The pushback has gained traction, recently in Round Rock and especially in Hays County. Community advocates and local leaders, like Hays County Judge Reuben Becerra, claim the massive facilities require a lot of water to operate and will threaten public drinking supplies. 

PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Continued water conservation concerns in Hays County

Hays County Commissioners are holding off, for now, on a proposal that would temporarily pause permits for large water usage developments.

There is also concern that data centers will add stress to the state power grid. 

A study released by the University of Texas at Austin predicts data centers, at the current rate of construction, could potentially account for 3% to 9% of water use in Texas by 2040. UT researchers said more than 400 data centers are now operating, or are under construction in Texas.

The study recommends creating better awareness campaigns for local communities, as well as better tracking of construction and doing better impact reviews. 

What they're saying:

Members of the Data Center Coalition responded to all the pushback.

"This is an industry that is committed to paying its full cost for service and wants to ensure rate payers are protected, and especially for the long term. Utilizing innovative partnerships by bringing your own generation or behind the meter solutions, co-location, but in the long term, you need large loads on the grid to help facilitate investment in the grid. You spread those fixed costs out over those large loads, and you actually can put downward pressure on rates for others, said Dan Diorio with the Data Center Coalition.

Some people who live near data centers or locations selected for a facility claim they were not adequately informed about them. Diorio noted the industry needs to address those kinds of concerns.

"I do think it's important to have robust stakeholder engagement so that residents can understand what these projects are and aren't and how they will fit their community's economic development needs," said Diorio.

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Residents are pushing back against a proposed data center in Hutto.

The coalition is trying to prevent a reaction that could result in moratoriums. Diorio is worried about that and also the message it could send.

"I worry that communities that put moratoriums ultimately create too much uncertainty and unpredictability and what that ultimately means is that those communities may shut themselves off to data center development but also may shut themselves off to broader economic development," said Diorio.

Ad campaigns from data center advocates have already started. One ad notes how the Trump administration supports the construction of more data centers, citing national security concerns.

"It is a national security issue, and I think it's important to do some education, broader education. Again, about what the industry is and isn't and the role that it plays in our everyday lives. But most importantly, I think the role that it plays in the global economy and in our global national security. Again, this is all of our data. We don't want it going overseas. We want it stored here," said Diorio.

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Texas lawmakers are looking for a way to balance the booming tech industry with the reality of finite resources. The House State Affairs Committee met to study how the massive growth of data centers is impacting our quality of life.

The ad campaigns are in anticipation the data center controversy will extend beyond the November general election and into the Texas legislative session, when state lawmakers return to Austin in January. 

Diorio said he thinks it's reasonable to have a conversation about new rules.

"It's all about finding that balance to say, we welcome your development here, we're going to do it the right way, and we're going to do it in a way that works for us. But we also want to know what's workable and what's not, what makes the most sense for you all as an industry, and we'll balance it out with the residents’ concerns. It's a mindset. And I think the mindset is, can we build it we will do it right or the mindset is no, no, no, no. And I think that's a that's a fundamental philosophical difference," said Diorio.