Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced an investigation into the water use of hundreds of data centers in the Lone Star State, as wrangling over data centers becomes an increasingly salient issue there. Paxton’s announcement comes as his race against Democratic state Representative James Talarico in the U.S. Senate race has become one of the most competitive battlegrounds of the 2026 midterms.
Data centers, a crucial piece of infrastructure for the development of artificial intelligence (AI), have become a major issue that has cut through traditional partisan divides. Polls suggest the development of data centers is broadly unpopular with both Democrats and Republicans. Only 20 percent of Americans believe that the construction of data centers is good for the country, according to a poll from YouGov and The Economist of 1,592 adults from August 28-31.
While President Donald Trump has dismissed the data center revolt, some Texas Republicans have struck a different tone. Paxton as well as Governor Greg Abbott, facing more competitive races than expected in a traditionally conservative state, have become increasingly critical of data center developers. Paxton announced on Thursday that he is investigating data center developments that have not responded to the Texas Water Development Board’s water use survey, which surveys entities using groundwater and surface water “for municipal, industrial, power generation, or mining purposes," his office wrote in a statement.
Paxton is demanding that the data center developers fill out a survey response “in full compliance with the law.” “My office is currently investigating hundreds of data center developments to ensure that they are transparent about their water usage and fully compliant with the law,” Paxton said in a statement. He spoke out against companies that are allegedly “blatantly disregarding their legal obligations to Texas and to our citizens.” “We cannot sacrifice our resources, water, or energy supply, and I will continue to fight for our communities across this state,” he said. He listed a total of 18 counties where data centers are under initial investigation.
Talarico responded to the investigation in a statement posted online by his spokesperson JT Ennis. He hit out at what he viewed as a “reversal” on data centers from Paxton. He has taken nearly half a million dollars from data center interests.
He was gifted 100,000 shares from a data center server company,” he wrote. He said Paxton is now “changing his tune” with an “empty claim he'll 'regulate' the same data centers that he allowed to proliferate and jack up our bills for over a decade.” Nationwide, frustration with the rapid development of data centers has become a political flashpoint. Critics have raised concerns about the environmental impact of data centers, and it’s become a sticking point in statewide campaigns in Texas this year.
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