Gov. Greg Abbott broadens moratorium on data center approvals to include environmental permits - The Texas Tribune

The order lands as data center construction keeps spreading statewide, drawing pushback from Texas communities watching power and water demands climb. Abbott sent a letter to TCEQ Executive Director Kelly Keel directing the pause until two other state bodies finish their homework. The Electric Reliability Council of Texas, which runs the state's power grid, and the Texas Water Development Board, which oversees water planning, are both conducting audits of proposed data center projects around Texas.

Those audits are supposed to nail down how much electricity and water these facilities actually plan to use before the state lets more of them get built. That matters here because Lubbock sits inside a region where power demand and water supply already get scrutinized every summer.

For people in Lubbock, this means any data center project eyeing West Texas now has to wait on state-level environmental sign-off, not just local approval. Developers lose momentum. Regulators can push harder for real numbers on grid and water strain before construction starts.

Abbott's move comes months before he faces reelection in November, tying a technical permitting freeze to a fight that's been building in Texas neighborhoods for over a year.