Data Center Backlash Brings Thousands Of Projects To A Screeching Halt
Americans’ growing opposition to the prevalence of data centers has led many politicians to limit or pause their increase altogether.
Lawmakers in New York and Texas, for example, have effected stoppages of data center projects, while other states, such as Pennsylvania, have issued more restrictions on data center construction. Americans’ support for data centers has generally plummeted, as critics have linked them to higher utility bills — reflecting extraordinary water and energy usage — being experienced by local communities.
Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott issued a sprawling data center moratorium in early August as residents soured on data centers. Abbott claimed his moratorium would protect Texans.
“My directive has halted up to 1,800 data center projects. I established guidelines & guardrails to protect Texas communities,” he wrote in a Wednesday post to social media, adding that data centers must not take water from communities, tax the Texas energy grid, or otherwise disrupt communities.
My directive has halted up to 1,800 data center projects.
I established guidelines & guardrails to protect Texas communities:
✔️Data centers must not take water needed by local communities,
✔️They must not take power needed by the Texas power grid,
✔️They must lower the cost…— Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX) August 20, 2026
Abbott’s moratorium drew a range of responses from the private and public sectors.
“What Governor Abbott is doing is working. The Governor established clear guidelines: Data centers must invest their own money, provide their own power, reuse their own water, ensure that the power grid is gaining power— not losing power because of their operations — and must not disturb neighborhoods,” Andrew Mahaleris, Abbott’s press secretary, told the Daily Caller News Foundation in a statement. “Data centers across the state have announced their full compliance with those standards, which provide guardrails that protect our communities.” (Read more from “Data Center Backlash Brings Thousands Of Projects To A Screeching Halt” HERE)
