Abbott Calls for Prohibition of Data Centers in Rural Texas Neighborhoods

AUSTIN, Texas — Governor Greg Abbott called Tuesday for blocking new data center construction in rural Texas neighborhoods, marking a sharp turn from his earlier embrace of the artificial intelligence industry and aligning himself with a growing grassroots backlash against the sprawling facilities.

Fort Worth, with roughly one million residents in Tarrant County about 35 miles west of Dallas, anchors the western half of the metroplex with major employers including American Airlines and Lockheed Martin, and the historic Stockyards cultural district.

Abbott’s push for a prohibition in rural neighborhoods goes further than a sweeping regulatory framework he unveiled earlier in June, which called for data centers to add new power generation to the grid, pay for their own infrastructure costs, reuse their own water, and implement measures such as setbacks from residential communities.

“We must prohibit them from building AI data centers in rural Texas neighborhoods,” Abbott said at a campaign stop in Bullard, adding that the issue “dovetails right into fighting for East Texas values.”

The third-term Republican governor had previously been enthusiastic about the influx of companies seeking to build the facilities, calling Texas “the epicenter of AI development” when he announced in November that Google had made a 40-billion-dollar investment in cloud and artificial intelligence infrastructure in the state. Abbott has received over 2 million dollars from people and companies linked to the tech and AI industries since last year, according to reporting by E&E News.

The governor reiterated his support for measures laid out in his earlier announcement, saying any AI data center looking to come to Texas “has to bring their own money, bring their own power, reuse their own water and do it in a way that reduces the cost of electricity for residents across our state.” He added, “We must eliminate the tax break they are getting.”

A Texas Tribune analysis found that nearly half of planned data centers in the state are set to be built in unincorporated areas not governed by cities or towns, up from just 12 percent now. Public polling has also shown the facilities are deeply unpopular: a recent University of Texas / Texas Politics Project poll found nearly two-thirds of rural Texans oppose construction of data centers in their communities.

Several counties have considered moratoriums, though Hill County reversed course after being hit with a 100-million-dollar lawsuit by a data center developer. Meanwhile, cities with broad zoning power such as San Marcos have begun banning the facilities outright. Abbott’s call for a statewide ban in rural neighborhoods, however, would require action by the Texas Legislature, which next convenes in January 2027.

Source: https://www.texastribune.org/2026/06/30/texas-abbott-data-center-development-ban-rural-communities/