The Texas Water Development Board presented the state's water plan at a Texas House natural resources committee hearing yesterday, which does not currently include projections for water usage from data centers.
Houston Public Media's energy and environment reporter Natalie Weber attended that meeting and joined NTX Now's Ron Corning to talk through the issues raised in that meeting.
These interview highlights have been edited for length and clarity. To hear the conversation in full, click the 'listen' button above.
What attempts have been made by the state to get information about water usage from data centers?
The state has been trying to collect some of this information and they have sent out surveys, but they haven't had the best response rates. There's a couple of different things going on, but basically the governor has ordered an audit of all data centers — which includes looking at their water usage — and then yesterday, the Texas Water Development Board said they are also working on some plans to map out water projections for these facilities.
So, what exactly does that look like in practical terms and do you think it would be an accurate estimation if they go about it themselves in this way?
Yesterday Matt Nelson, executive administrator for the Texas Water Development Board, said one thing that they're going to look at is data from the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, or ERCOT, which manages the Texas power grid. So, they're going to at where these data centers are requesting to connect to the power grid and how much power they're requesting. Then they'll use that to make projections about water usage.
Is there no way, legally, to compel data centers to comply with demands by the governor and the water board for information on water and energy usage?
I think that's something we are still figuring out, but, the governor has said that no new data centers will be able to connect to the ERCOT power grid, which covers most of the state, until this audit is complete. So, we shall see if the data centers actually fill out the surveys that they're going to be receiving.
We expect this audit to be completed by December, is that correct?
That's what ERCOT is saying. They are sending out requests for information to various large and medium-sized data centers that have requested to join the power grid.
And as we wait on that, we're seeing what really could be characterized, I believe, as one of the largest contingent of bipartisan resistance against these data centers, both in rural communities and even in metro areas.
Yeah, there has definitely been a lot of pushback, and it's been really interesting to see because last year, the governor was calling Texas the epicenter of A.I. development and now he's kind of pivoted. Then you also have critics of the governor, like Gina Hinojosa who's running against him in November, and she says his audit doesn't go far enough and that he needs to call a special session. So, we are really seeing this across the spectrum.
Ron Corning is a co-host of KERA's NTX Now. Got a tip? Email Ron at rcorning@kera.org.
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