• State rep seeks development pause, special session, and stronger public input rules
• Counties cite water, grid, noise, pollution, and transparency concerns
• Governor shifts toward ratepayer protections and stricter data center requirements

Backed by mounting local opposition, Texas lawmakers are considering a wide-ranging suite of policies instituting additional requirements and regulations for data center developers active in the state.

Texas Congresswoman for Texas District 58 Helen Kerwin is but one example of a Texas lawmaker joining the push against data center development in the state, calling for a 2026 special session and an “immediate pause” on data center development in the state in response to local concerns regarding water and energy use.

Representing a district including Somervell and Johnson Counties, which is home to Vistra’s Comanche Peak nuclear project, Kerwin said in an interview with NPM that she is tracking project proposals including Amazon’s Project Spectrum in Somervell, which seeks to site adjacent to Vistra’s project on a 435 acre tract with expectations to begin construction next year. NPM Data is also tracking a Venus data center proposal from TPA Group in Johnson County.

In response, Kerwin convened a regional task force between the two counties, which has led to both signing resolutions opposing further data center development and requesting legislative action from the state. Other counties including Hunt, Wise, Tom Green and Caldwell have passed similar resolutions, which Kerwin calls “important and influential signals from local leadership” regarding data center opposition.

Some counties have been hit harder with gluts of proposals than others. Public Citizen organizer Rita Beving reported at least eight such proposals in Hood County where ONCOR has proposed the installation of new high-performance transmission lines as part of its plan to increase transmission pathways to West Texas. NPM is tracking six of these planned developments from firms including Sailfish, Starwood and Amazon. The largest of these installations, Sailfish’s Comanche Circle, calls for 3 GW of capacity while Amazon’s Project Spectrum calls for 1.2 GW.

Beving, in a separate interview with NPM, notes all but one of the planned data centers in Hood County are to be co-located with natural gas projects, creating local concern regarding pollution, air quality and water usage in addition to noise issues that can affect livestock. She says the local Brazos River Authority is already maxed out and that the groundwater district is so concerned about water use that they are pausing any permits seeking more than 50 million gallons of water as they develop new water-use requirements.

While Hood County contemplated a moratorium on data center development in the state, Texas Senator Paul Bettencourt sent county commissioners a letter arguing the county lacked such authority siting HB 2559, which passed last year, and its stricter restrictions on municipalities’ ability to halt property developments via “unchecked, uniform moratoria.”

Hill County passed a one-year moratorium on data center development last month only to rescind earlier this month after the filing of a federal lawsuit in the US District Court for the Western District of Texas. In a brief published since, K&L Gates determined the reaction “validated the suit’s premise that Texas counties lack broad authority to halt data center projects altogether.”

But that could change. Kerwin has penned a letter to Governor Abbott calling for an immediate pause on new large-scale data center developments, called for the appointment of an executive working group to evaluate long-term impacts, and begun lobbying Abbott for a special session to address data center developments with a specific focus on impacts on Texas aquifers.

She has specifically called for a “clear pathway for mandatory public notice and citizen input when projects seek significant water usage or major power interconnection” and says “there are still significant questions that need to be addressed regarding long term water supply, grid demand and infrastructure capacity.”

“I expect the legislature will need to take a more active role moving forward,” she said.

While Beving calls Kerwin’s request for a special session “noble,” she says it is “highly unlikely” one will be called before the start of the next regular session in January. However, Governor Abbott has notably changed his tune on data center development over the last year.

In late 2025, Abbott held a joint event with Google CEO Sundar Pichai in Dallas touting the company’s planned USD 40bn in data center developments in the state. But earlier this month, the governor directed the Texas PUC and ERCOT to take steps to project residential ratepayers from the costs of data center expansion including requiring data centers to fully fund the cost of infrastructure needed to serve their operations and directing the agencies to identify additional actions to safeguard ratepayers via a joint memorandum to be submitted by July 17. Further, Abbott directed the PUC to initiate action to reduce residential ratepayers’ transmission costs by July 31.

While Abbott has stopped short of calling a special session, he has committed to working with the legislature during next year’s session to “codify protections and ensure data centers add to Texas electric capacity rather than merely increasing demand.” Some of Abbott’s outlined legislative goals include a requirement for data centers to use water-efficient systems, report accurate data on electricity and water usage, and increase setbacks and noise reduction parameters, as well as a potential phase out of “outdated tax incentives.”

Regardless of whether a special session is called, based on Abbott’s letter and the “pace and scale of proposed development,” Kerwin says she “anticipates data centers will be at the forefront of the next legislative session.” Beving, meanwhile, says data center developers have themselves to blame for “walking into commissioners courts and not being transparent about where they want to be and what their energy and water needs are.”

“That is probably the most fatal mistake a data center can make,” Beving said. “They need to realize that there’s a lot of distrust, public opposition is rising quickly, and I’ve had county commissioners reach out to me with similar concerns.”