Texas Attorney General and Republican U.S. Senate candidate Ken Paxton outlined what he called a conditional “Texas first” approach to data center development in an attempt to quell opposition from residents concerned about losing their water, particularly in rural areas, and spikes in utility rates.
Speaking to an audience of small business owners and community leaders at the “In Dialogue: Texas” event hosted by the United States Hispanic Business Council (USHBC) in Fort Worth on Saturday, Paxton said he sees data centers as essential rather than optional. “This is not an extreme yes-no. This is a yes with conditions,” he told USHBC President and CEO Javier Palomarez.
Under his plan, Paxton said any new data center would be required to generate enough of its own power so it doesn't draw electricity from the grid and raise rates for other customers. Facilities would also need closed-loop water recycling systems “so that you’re not draining the water resources of whatever county or city you’re in.” Paxton further insisted that Chinese hardware, software or other components be banned from the facilities.
“We also need to make sure that the Chinese are not, they don’t have their hardware, their software, whatever components. They can have nothing to do with our data centers because we all know we’re competing against them and it may be a competition for survival,” he said.
Allowing China to gain an advantage in artificial intelligence, he warned, would enable it “to dominate us and to hurt us, which is their goal.” Location is also a key factor, Paxton added, who said data centers need not be placed in residential neighborhoods when “there’s plenty of open space in Texas.” He voiced support for Gov.
Greg Abbott’s temporary moratorium, while urging eventual progress with “reasonable restrictions so that these data centers are