Meta has agreed to a series of guidelines for data center operations in Texas, including paying for their electric infrastructure and to “eliminate reliance on outdated taxpayer-funded incentives,” Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said in a news release Monday.
But the news release lacked details on whether the agreement covers existing data centers like the one being built in Northeast El Paso, and whether Meta was forgoing incentives for the project that were approved by the El Paso City Council and El Paso County Commissioners Court.
The governor’s statement did not include a comment from Meta.
“I established clear guardrails to ensure data centers protect our electric grid, conserve our water, respect our neighborhoods, and pay their own way,” Abbott said. “They must not pass costs on to Texas families or interfere with their quality of life.”
Abbott, who championed data centers until public backlash mounted across Texas, directed the Public Utilities Commission of Texas and the Electric Reliability Council of Texas to require data centers to pay for their electric infrastructure, rather than having homeowners and businesses pay those costs; reuse their own water; reduce the cost of electricity for Texans; not disrupt residential neighborhoods; and “pay their own way and eliminate reliance on outdated taxpayer-funded incentives.”
This is a developing story and will be updated.
The post Meta agrees to Texas data center guidelines, but impact on El Paso incentives is unclear appeared first on El Paso Matters.
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