Et tu, Greg Abbott?
Tuesday, Jun 23, 2026 - Posted by Rich Miller
* March, 2022…
Meta, formerly the Facebook company, announced today that it will invest $800 million in the creation of a Hyperscale Data Center in Temple, Texas. The new facility, which will total approximately 900,000 square feet when completed, will be located on 393 acres off NW H K Dodgen Loop and Industrial Blvd., and will support approximately 100 operational jobs in the community. The project is expected to employ 1,250 construction workers onsite during peak construction, which will begin in Spring 2022. […]
“Meta’s continued expansion in Texas is a testament to the exceptional business climate and skilled, diverse workforce we have here in the Lone Star State,” said Texas Governor Greg Abbott. “It is because of hardworking Texans and our commitment to helping businesses grow that companies continue to move and expand all across Texas. We are excited to welcome Meta to Temple and look forward to the new job opportunities they will bring to the local community, as well as the advancements in technology we will see in the future.”
* March, 2023…
As Gov. Greg Abbott signals stronger support for the creation of a new program to replace a multibillion dollar corporate tax break program that expired last year, he’s also drawing a clear line in the sand: wind and solar energy projects need not apply.
“I support [the program] not providing economic incentives for renewables,” Abbott said during a news conference in Austin. “There’s already federal incentives for renewable projects, and those will continue to be allowed. As it concerns especially energy and power and the power grid, our focus is on dispatchable power,” such as natural gas or coal. […]
Renewable energy has proliferated in Texas: The number of wind turbines has grown significantly over the past decade, and the number of solar farms is rising, too. Texas produces more wind energy than any other state. It rivals California for solar. Both types of power don’t pollute the air and are cheap, generally beating out sources such as natural gas to sell the electricity they produce.
* January, 2025…
* September, 2025…
Abbott opens arms to data centers, teases big AI investment
Governor said project in works to eclipse Oracle, Open AI’s $400 billion investment in “Project Stargate”
* June, 2026…
Late last year, Texas electricity officials faced an astonishing rush of requests from data center developers wanting to connect to the state’s grid. The Electric Reliability Council of Texas, the grid operator, was logging dozens of new requests each quarter from companies that sought to pull more electricity than traditional data centers did — by a long shot. […]
The proposals kept coming. ERCOT in the last two years received 519 requests to connect large electricity users, compared to 24 such requests the year before that, according to its records as of May. The estimated electricity that large projects could need added up to a gobsmacking 438,595 megawatts — which would equal roughly a third of all the power generation in America.
* Today…
- Tracy D - Tuesday, Jun 23, 26 @ 2:04 pm:
Illinois is # 1 in nuclear power generation and capacity and Texas will try to pass us. Wind & solar are good but they are not enough to power the large data centers.
- TNR - Tuesday, Jun 23, 26 @ 2:31 pm:
Actually, Texas going big on data centers could have an unforeseen impact on Illinois. Texas (unlike Illinois) will allow new construction of natural gas plants to power the data centers. But due to high demand and broken supply chains, it takes about 5 years to get a new turbine ordered and built. So if Texas goes too big, too quickly they won’t be able to meet all that demand. Something they might do to avoid power shortages: buy up the Illinois gas plants facing CEJA-required closures, yank out the turbines, and ship them to Texas. This has already happened to the Elwood plant in Will County. It could become routine.
- Moneybuys - Tuesday, Jun 23, 26 @ 2:33 pm:
Red state or blue state, data center issue resonates.
- Friendly Bob Adams - Tuesday, Jun 23, 26 @ 2:54 pm:
They can make their own power but they can’t make their own water. The more they take, the less is available for everyone else.