Texas's Tech Boom: Why Officials Can't Track Vital Resource Use
Texas officials are hitting a wall trying to understand how much water and power data centers consume, a crucial insight for managing the state's resources. A major challenge is the lack of a comprehensive contact list, making it difficult to enforce mandatory surveys. With only 30% of data centers responding, regulators are left with incomplete data, hindering effective water and energy planning. This situation raises serious environmental concerns amidst growing demands and increasing climate pressures on Texas's finite water supply.
Texas is facing a unique challenge as its rapidly growing data center industry expands: state regulators simply don't know who all the operators are, or how much water and energy they're using. Officials from the Texas Water Development Board (TWDB) and the Public Utility Commission (PUC) told lawmakers that without a master list of data center contacts, their efforts to collect vital information are incomplete. This oversight leaves a significant gap in understanding the environmental footprint of these facilities, especially concerning their water-intensive cooling systems.
Despite surveys being mandatory and non-compliance a misdemeanor, only about 100 out of 341 data centers responded to the TWDB’s latest request for information. This low response rate has frustrated state senators, who emphasized that public resources like water are not subject to confidentiality. One lawmaker, Sen. Charles Perry, forcefully stated that if a business model relies on secrecy about public resource use, it needs to change. Governor Greg Abbott has already imposed a temporary halt on new data center connections to the grid, pending an audit of their community impacts.
The data that has been collected highlights the significant water demands. Facilities using evaporative cooling systems, for example, consume nearly four times more water per megawatt-hour of energy compared to non-evaporative methods. This distinction is critical as Texas faces ongoing water scarcity challenges. The good news is that there's growing interest in sustainable alternatives, such as using highly saline wastewater from the oil and gas industry in the Permian Basin, which could offer a meaningful solution.
Lawmakers are now exploring stronger enforcement measures, potentially linking survey compliance directly to water connections. This proactive approach underscores the urgent need for transparency and responsible resource management. Embracing more efficient cooling technologies and exploring alternative water sources are crucial steps toward ensuring that technological growth doesn't compromise the state's environmental health and future water security for its 30 million residents.