Texas Governor Hinojosa unveils data center protection legislation

Incoming Texas Governor Gina Hinojosa announced Thursday that the state will introduce legislation to protect residents from the impacts of data centers, particularly in rural areas. The Democrat defeated incumbent Republican Greg Abbott in Tuesday's midterm elections. Hinojosa told CNN that data centers have located primarily in rural communities without legal safeguards for Texans. Texas has become a major data center hub due to abundant energy, affordable land, and business-friendly policies, though public opposition has grown over electricity use, water consumption, wildlife effects, and federal land access. Voter resistance to data center expansion was a key midterm factor. Abbott had halted new data center grid connections and ordered an audit of existing projects. Billionaire Elon Musk, who backed Abbott and spent $158 million on Republican Senate candidate Ken Paxton, repeated his proposal to build data centers in space after Democratic victories.