The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality has paused issuing permits connected to construction or infrastructure “directly supporting data centers,” the agency’s interim executive director told Gov. Greg Abbott in a letter Monday.
The letter followed instructions from the governor last month for TCEQ to stop issuing “all permits related to data center projects” while other state agencies and the state electric grid operator gathered and checked information about data centers’ proposed water and power use.
But an advocacy group that has been fighting data center development along with concerned residents says that some TCEQ permits have still been moving along. The state agency oversees permits for companies to emit air pollution from gas-fueled power plants or diesel generators, as well as for stormwater runoff during construction — which some data center projects need.
Organizers from Public Citizen, the advocacy group, in a news release Monday identified more than a dozen examples of data center-related plans that have been advancing through TCEQ’s permitting process.
Their evidence included at least six new stormwater construction permits they said were related to data centers and approved after Abbott’s directive. These permits are required to begin activities such as land clearing, grading and excavation at large construction sites, said Kathryn Guerra, the TCEQ watchdog campaign director for Public Citizen.
“The TCEQ’s own data indicates that it’s business as usual for data centers,” Guerra said at an online news conference. “Affected communities were promised a freeze, and instead what they’re getting is another reason to distrust the TCEQ.”
On Tuesday, TCEQ spokesman Ryan Vise said in a statement that those stormwater permits had been suspended. A notice on the agency’s stormwater permit webpage reiterated that Abbott’s pause included “the halt of applications for construction projects in association with a data center.”
Abbott once touted Texas as the “epicenter of AI development.” But as bipartisan opposition to the massive number of proposed data centers has grown louder during a frenzied election cycle, the governor cracked down on the projects.
In August, Abbott told regulators and operators of the electric grid to stop moving data center companies’ requests to connect to the grid forward so officials could audit them and collect more information. But critics were quick to point out that not all projects were necessarily seeking grid connections — some could build their own power, thereby sidestepping the permitting wait.
A recent report by Earthjustice estimated some 80% of power secured and funded by data center projects and brought online in the next five years would be gas-powered electricity generators, which would contribute not only to greenhouse gas emissions that fuel climate change but also harm nearby communities.
Abbott on Sept. 14 next directed the Texas Water Development Board to use its authority to penalize data centers that didn’t provide water use information as required. Experts noted in that case that the law carries a maximum fine of only $500 — an amount that might not matter to big data center developers.
“The people in this area have had enough, and we’re fed up. We want real policy around this, not rhetoric.”
Abilene resident Riley Rodriquez
Abbott added a new directive on Sept. 21 with the pause to TCEQ permits, which Public Citizen has now shown the spotlight on.
Abbott’s office in a statement backed up TCEQ’s actions so far.
“No permits have been approved,” Andrew Mahaleris, a spokesman for the governor, said in a statement Monday. “In line with the Governor’s directive, TCEQ has not taken and will not take any proactive actions related to the approval of data center permits.”
But community organizers and Public Citizen weren’t buying it.
“The people in this area have had enough, and we’re fed up. We want real policy around this, not rhetoric,” said Abilene resident Riley Rodriquez during the Public Citizen news conference. The massive Stargate data center is being built near his home.
Public Citizen’s list included records of three notices sent the day after Abbott’s announcement that related to major source air quality permits, including the Nexus Data Centers project in Hill County that then went into a public comment period, leaving residents confused as to whether they need to file their comments now or later. (The company did not respond to a request for comment.)
In Hill County, construction was meanwhile moving right along for that project, said resident Linda Polley during the news conference. She described trucks flying up and down the road and sending dust in the air, leaving residents thinking the company must expect to get its permits to operate eventually.
“Our plea is to Governor Abbott,” Polley said. “What exactly did you pause?”
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