Texas is experiencing an AI-driven data center boom with at least 248 projects planned statewide. Here’s what to know about the industry’s rapid growth and the debate over its impact.
Alejandra Martinez
Alejandra Martinez is a Fort Worth-based environmental reporter. She’s covered the impacts of petrochemical facilities on Black and brown communities, including investigating a chemical fire at an industrial complex and how the state's air monitoring system has failed Latino communities. Her work on climate change includes exploring the health effects of extreme heat and how extended droughts affect water resources. Before joining the Tribune in 2022, Alejandra was an accountability reporter at KERA, where she began as a Report for America Corps Member and then covered Dallas City Hall. She also has worked as an associate producer at WLRN in South Florida. A Houston native, Alejandra studied journalism at the University of Texas at Austin and speaks fluent Spanish.
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Energy
Texas leaders are asking data centers how much water they use. Most aren’t responding.
Data centers use water to cool their massive arrays of computer servers. A state agency sent out a survey to figure out how much, but less than a third of the companies responded.
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Environment
Texas agency to set rules for using treated fracking wastewater on farmland
The state’s environmental regulator will hold a public hearing June 15 on its proposed rules for how the toxic wastewater can be reused. Here’s what you should know.
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Data Centers in Texas
Abbott recommends sweeping data center regulation, including eliminating sales tax exemption
The recommendations for legislative action amount to a striking call for industry regulation by the Republican governor in a state that has long prided itself on being a favorable environment for business.
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Data Centers in Texas
Eight data centers threaten to transform this small Texas county. Local officials say they have no power to stop them.
At least 248 data centers are planned to be built in Texas. Of those, nearly half will be built in unincorporated areas, where county officials are limited in their ability to regulate development, according to a Texas Tribune analysis.
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Environment
Hill Country ranch with caves, cliffs and lake will become Texas’ second-largest state park
The 54,000-acre Silver Lake Ranch, straddling Kinney and Edwards counties, has a 30-acre spring-fed lake. An opening date hasn’t been determined.
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2026 Texas Elections
Ken Paxton defeats John Cornyn for U.S. Senate GOP nomination
The attorney general’s victory is a crushing blow to the Texas GOP’s old guard, which has faltered in recent years against the Paxton-led insurgent wing.
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Environment
Hurricane season expected to be mild in 2026, but officials urge Texans to stay prepared
A strong El Niño weather pattern is expected to develop and intensify during the 2026 hurricane season, which could suppress the formation of tropical storms and hurricanes.
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Data Centers in Texas
Texas county pauses data center construction in rural areas for a year
Hill County commissioners’ split vote to issue a moratorium appears to be a first in Texas.
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Environment
Corpus Christi is scrambling to ward off a water crisis. Here’s a guide to its water projects.
From drilling groundwater wells to recycling wastewater, Corpus Christi has launched a host of projects as it races against the clock to find more water.
