Texas Kept Approving Data Center Permits After Abbott's Pause — SkimNews
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- Texas regulators did not stop processing permits for data center projects after Gov. Greg Abbott ordered a pause last month, according to a public records analysis released Monday by FracTracker.
- FracTracker, an oil and gas watchdog group, released the analysis showing the disconnect between Abbott's pause directive and continued permitting activity.
- Gov. Greg Abbott ordered the pause last month amid an upswell of public opposition to the booming buildout of data centers in the state.
- The continued processing of permits suggests the governor's executive order lacked binding effect on the day-to-day regulatory pipeline for data center projects.
Why it matters: Abbott's pause offered no binding mechanism to halt local permitting, so Texas regulators kept advancing data center projects through the pipeline — meaning the political gesture did not slow the state's data center buildout that is driving surging energy and water demand. The FracTracker finding hands critics evidence that future pauses will require legislative or regulatory teeth, not just executive rhetoric.
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