{"id":383047,"date":"2026-11-04T03:44:00","date_gmt":"2026-11-04T11:44:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/?p=383047"},"modified":"2026-11-04T03:44:08","modified_gmt":"2026-11-04T11:44:08","slug":"texas-data-center-boom-hits-a-setback-after-abbott-loss-gina-hinojosa-wants-projects-paused","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/texas-data-center-boom-hits-a-setback-after-abbott-loss-gina-hinojosa-wants-projects-paused\/","title":{"rendered":"Texas data center boom hits a setback after Abbott loss: Gina Hinojosa wants projects paused"},"content":{"rendered":"

Texas\u2019s data center push just ran into a political wall. Governor Greg Abbott lost reelection to Gina Hinojosa, and she wants to pause new projects until residents have stronger protections. That matters because Texas had become one of the main hubs of the U.S. data center buildout after Google announced a $40 billion expansion<\/strong>, and Abbott had been pitching the state as the \u201cepicenter\u201d of the boom.<\/p>\n

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Baker projected investment rising from $3.4 billion in 2022 to $66.2 billion in 2026. Jefferies put Texas at 26% of planned U.S. capacity across 419 sites, almost triple Virginia, with 13.3 GW<\/strong> on the line if a moratorium goes through.<\/p>\n\n

No wonder utilities care.<\/p>\n\n

Bank of America reportedly called this the key utility race of 2026, while data center load could jump eightfold by 2030<\/strong> to 77,965 MW, brushing up against current peak generating capacity.<\/p>\n\n

The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) said peak demand has already topped 91,000 MW<\/strong> and could reach 175,000 by 2032. It also reportedly said 90% of 474 GW of interconnection requests come from data centers, on top of local worries about water, noise, land use, household bills, and sharp swings in demand.<\/p>\n\n

If you track this sector, keep an eye on this one.<\/p>\n

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Gina Hinojosa wants to ban NDAs, expand community input, require proof that projects won\u2019t raise household water<\/strong> or electricity bills, and end subsidies and tax breaks. That lines up with New York\u2019s moratorium<\/a>, Austin County\u2019s ban, El Paso\u2019s buffer rules, and an Abbott audit pause.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Texas\u2019s data center push just ran into a political wall. Governor Greg Abbott lost reelection to Gina Hinojosa, and she wants to pause new projects until residents have stronger protections. That matters because Texas had become one of the main hubs of the U.S. data center buildout after Google announced a $40 billion expansion, and … Continue reading “Texas data center boom hits a setback after Abbott loss: Gina Hinojosa wants projects paused”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9349,"featured_media":383046,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","wpcf-pageviews":0},"categories":[1015],"tags":[],"usertag":[],"vertical":[],"content-category":[6771],"class_list":["post-383047","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","content-category-ai"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t