Abbott: Data Centers 'Dug Their Own Grave'

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said AI data center developers brought the public backlash on themselves, telling ABC's "This Week" on Sunday that they "basically dug their own grave."

Abbott used the interview to defend his pause on approvals for new data centers seeking connections to the state power grid — a sharp reversal for a Republican who called Texas the "epicenter" of AI development less than a year ago.

President Donald Trump has called the pause a "mistake."

What Abbott Said

"They pop up in places that nobody ever heard of before, until they started the construction," Abbott told co-anchor Jonathan Karl, according to Politico. "And so, they had not been working in collaboration with the state, they'd not been in collaboration with local governments, and so they basically dug their own grave for the problem that's been caused for them and that's why they got the backlash they deserve."

"Gaining the support of people in local communities is essential," he said, per Business Insider.

"If you're a data center and you want to operate in Texas, you have to first get the approval of those in local communities," Abbott said Sunday, Newsweek reported.

Karl pressed him on approval speed: reports show one massive power plant for a Meta data center was approved in 20 days, another in three days and another in only two. Asked whether that was a mistake, Abbott declined to call any of them one.

"To actually begin the data center, they don't need to get approval from the State of Texas, which is the way the law currently works," Abbott said. "One thing that they would need to do, eventually, is to get the approval to plug into the power grid."

The Grid Math

Texas now has 335 data centers with at least 248 more in the works, according to the Texas Tribune.

Abbott's press secretary, Andrew Mahaleris, told Newsweek that ERCOT — the Electric Reliability Council of Texas — is tracking a more than 500 percent increase in peak electricity demand. "This unprecedented growth could endanger the reliability and stability of the Texas electric grid," he said.

Mahaleris also said Texas law requires data centers to report their power and water usage, but fewer than 10 percent were in compliance.

"The Governor's pause requires data centers to provide PUCT and ERCOT with the required information for them to make fully informed decisions," he said. "Simply put, Texans must come first."

Abbott said earlier this month that his administration had halted some 1,800 AI data center projects in the state, according to Business Insider.