Support for data centers across the country is plummeting, especially here in Texas, where tech development has previously thrived, leading to massive job growth. Now a number of concerns, primarily surrounding water and energy supplies, threaten that growth.
Data centers require large amounts of water in order to keep the computer equipment inside them cool, and with water running short in parts of central and west Texas, that’s been a hard sell for voters. Since they require huge amounts of power nearly 24/7, potential energy price increases have also been in the spotlight.
Former Texas State Representative Jacey Jetton says what started as questions about managing these resources has now escalated to a near statewide 180 on data center sentiment. “It has been a bit of a slow trickle that has turned into a full-blown pivot, but you do have President Trump still in support of data centers,” he said.
He believes that data centers can and, in many cases, have addressed key concerns—they just need to get the word out about it. He pointed to proposals requiring that data centers simply provide their own power and recycle the water that they use as coolant.
Jetton, along with many others, believes that they could end up reducing overall energy costs if they find a way to produce excess energy that can then be added to the ERCOT supply. According to him: “They’re not only good from a national defense standpoint, but also for lowering the tax burden. And they have the ability to be very good neighbors.”
Jetton added that it’s up to the companies building these data centers to put more effort into their own public relations and share the message of how beneficial they can be.