Texas is confronting a surge in electricity demand tied to data centers, with ERCOT reporting roughly 474 gigawatts of proposed large loads under review by August, about 90 percent linked to data centers and more than five times the state's record peak demand. The buildout, rooted in post-2021 grid reliability reforms after Winter Storm Uri, now includes massive new 765-kilovolt transmission lines and other projects cutting across ranches and farmland.
Opposition is emerging across the political spectrum. Landowners like Erath County's Lance Cashion have testified about eminent domain fears, inadequate notice, and cumulative impacts from multiple overlapping transmission projects. Republican lawmakers such as Wes Virdell have condemned eminent domain use for these lines, while Democratic agriculture commissioner candidate Clayton Tucker has made opposing data centers and protecting water central to his campaign. Gov. Greg Abbott has directed regulators to scrutinize data center grid connections and proposed shifting infrastructure costs to developers and eliminating tax incentives, but has resisted calls for a special session, deferring action to the next regular legislative session despite the scale of the issue.
