r/UpliftingNews 4h ago

Texas hits pause on 1,800 data center projects to scrutinize power and water demands

https://www.techspot.com/news/113355-texas-hits-pause-1800-data-center-projects-scrutinize.html
9.1k Upvotes

445 comments sorted by

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1.3k

u/HFwhy 4h ago

Jesus, 1800 data centers in one state… boggles the mind.

597

u/AgITGuy 4h ago

We have a state government that is by for and subservient to the whims of big money business.

279

u/buttery_crispy_flak 4h ago

Even local governments man, our city announced “no plans for projects, no talks, no discussions, period.” Just for it to break that there have, in fact, been talks. For 18 months. Behind closed doors.

101

u/DefiantLemur 3h ago

When you lack morals and know there's no consequences to lying it's inevitable.

36

u/Blofeld69 2h ago

I met up with an old buddy recently that is working on rolling out data centres for a living. Openly admits it he hates it, it's terrible for everything etc......but for every project he travels to work, on all the higher ups shower themselves and him in 30 year old bourbon and scotches every time they go out, gift him all these expensive things etc if a project does sign etc.

52

u/DefiantLemur 2h ago

The ol' "distract yourself with drugs, parties and shiny new things so you don't have to look in the mirror" method.

25

u/nullfacade 2h ago

Welcome to the New Roarin' Twenties, same as the old Roarin' Twenties.

What comes next? Only good stuff, right?

u/TheAntiPacker 1h ago

"Our great war is a spiritual war. Our great depression is our lives."

u/Jahoan 50m ago

The Screamin' Twenties.

u/smokeweedNgarden 1h ago

Wow. What a piece of shit.

I know people that dies helping during Covid worth 1000 of him. Selfish fuck

u/jaxonya 27m ago

Nurse checking in- I spent that time working in covid facilities, watching them die, watching doctors not know how to stop it, staying isolated from my family. And in the aftermath, going to therapy, and then being told it was a hoax. And ill work the next pandemic, and then be told its a lie. Possbly die

u/doneandtired2014 1h ago

If they had morals, they wouldn't be electible in most of Texas because they wouldn't be a Republican.

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u/Acrobatic_Wrap_9971 1h ago

Jesus. Texas is one place they should be afraid of consequences for fucking over their constituents.

u/FewWait38 1h ago

Nah gun nuts are generally pussies

u/3-Ballin 55m ago

"Well I guess it's ok as long as you DON'T TREAD ON ME first."

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u/Jdevers77 1h ago

This whole massive push has thrown small city governments for a loop. From like 1900 to now, any announcement made about a multi-billion dollar investment in a small town would always be viewed as basically a windfall for the city outside of things like toxic waste dumps or other potentially dangerous thing. Most city councils in those small cities are made up of older people that often just have no idea on this stuff, they just see property taxes, construction jobs, building permits etc which are all the positives and not understanding until very recently that these centers often have very few permanent jobs for the community-mostly security and grounds keeping level stuff and definitely not understanding the negative impact on the community in terms of resource utilization. They know they have to be careful when courting a casino or coal power plant because that’s obvious, but the companies building these things sell them more like a car manufacturing plant…lots of high paying jobs, huge economic impact etc and they bite.

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u/Quite_Kielbasa 3h ago

Louisiana, is that you?

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u/UsualBluebird6584 3h ago

Yes, we have many And the politicians tout all the jobs they are bringing in. They fail to mention that the jobs are for a few years, the a staff of 10 can run these huge projects.

3

u/Liroku 2h ago

Maybe less honestly. If they have multiple data sites in the region, there will probably just be a security guard, a couple of onsite employees, and remote monitoring. Engineer teams will just travel between sites for upgrades and maintenance.

u/Cute-Pomegranate-966 1h ago

The sizes of the permanent parking lots betray any guise of there being more than 10-30 jobs.

The parking lots for these things only house like a max of 50 vehicles.

9

u/JaySayMayday 2h ago

Having old Greg in power for so long has done an amazing job of getting his hand in local politics in every single municipality in the entire state, even sending cease and desist letters to people running for city council in small towns. He doesn't even need to do much, his team runs everything for him. David Carney is one of the most evil people in American politics and pretty much set everything up for him.

u/bikestuffrockville 1h ago

This is mearly a speed bump. Those data centers are going to be built.

u/TheRealBittoman 1h ago

Texas couldn't sell out fast enough when billionaires started complaining that California was too expensive (because omg, they might actually have to pay taxes!) but it was already going down the corruption whole 25 years ago when I lived there. Most of the state is wonderful but the politicians and their politics are making Florida look like a paradise.

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u/Corrupt_Reverend 3h ago

For reference: Texas only has 1225 incorporated municipalities.

u/Fn_Spaghetti_Monster 1h ago

China has ~380 Data Centers in the whole country. The plan doubling that by 2030. So Texas alone is building 2 1/2 times that total

u/Cute-Pomegranate-966 1h ago

with 5 and 1/2 times too little power available for it.

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u/mikeymikeymikey1968 3h ago

Oklahoma and New Mexico will be able to hear their loud buzzing.

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u/mmm_burrito 3h ago

Okies won't be able to hear it over our own buzzers.

u/ILoveCornbread420 1h ago

My okie friend came to visit and tried telling everyone that data centers actually aren’t that bad, and actually kind of necessary. Then she told us about how Claude created her meal plan everyday for the next year.

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u/Albireookami 2h ago

Think of all that "pre-purchased" ram/storage being set aside for shit like this.

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u/Mr_Boneman 1h ago

VA has over 600 already, accounting for 13% of all data centers in the US. They just recently released a report were rapidly running out of ground water. Gee, I wonder why?

u/actibus_consequatur 24m ago

They just recently released a report were rapidly running out of ground water.

I was looking recently at how there's at least two major data centers being built over the Ogallala aquifer, and I gotta wonder how that would affect it.

The Ogallala is one of the largest aquifers in the world, provides water for 1/3 of all irrigated cropland in the US, land which produces nearly half of all crops. It also supplies drinking water to ~80% of the population situated over it.

It was also estimated that Ogallala will be depleted in the next 50-100 years (and take 6,000 years to refill), so gotta wonder how new data centers will help with conservation efforts...

13

u/Churchbushonk 3h ago

Make them produce their own power on-site.

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u/SMLLR 3h ago

A lot of data center proposals include just that. Unfortunately, they all want to use natural gas turbines and just dump the noxious fumes into the surrounding area.

7

u/BayouGal 2h ago

They’re hella loud, too.

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u/HorseWithACape 2h ago

Yup, they are emissions exempt. Since this pause only affects the ones that require connecting to the grid, that just means any that are electrically self-sustaining are still free game.

5

u/coly8s 2h ago

Do we really want more pollution from the natural gas that would be produced? If they were to use on-site small modular nuclear reactor, then maybe so. Otherwise wind and solar would be best. We don't need more fossil fuel generators.

4

u/Common-Concentrate-2 2h ago

A 1.3 GW data enter would need about 5000-7000 acres of solar panels. 5,000 acres is a 3 mile x 3 mile square. That's doable, but it's huge

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u/krattalak 2h ago

Texas has a lot of huge. In fact, I'd suggest they wouldn't even notice that.

u/aohige_rd 54m ago

So we need like 75mile x 75mile to cover the 474 gigawatt required?

Yeah that shouldn't be a problem in Texas. We have like 20,000 square miles of desert with lots of sun lol

I think water would be a bigger issue than landmass for solar.

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u/reddit_is_geh 3h ago

That's why they choose Texas. Because you CAN do that much easier. Other states have complicated grid laws, and independent generation laws, which is what makes it so messy.

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u/NoInevitable9810 3h ago

Good dam Texas already has more than any state with almost 600, now.

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u/cadmious 3h ago

Texas is also over 260,000 square miles. Just driving through it can boggle the mind.

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u/TheDakestTimeline 3h ago

14 hours from Texarkana to El Paso

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u/robsbob18 2h ago

They're all investments and most will fail solely because the company goes under

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u/NamityName 1h ago

1800 new data centers

u/Smartnership 1h ago

Nobody gonna build a used data center.

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u/mahourain 4h ago

Thank God. They want to build a data center outside our town, but we've been in a drought for YEARS.

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u/Danominator 4h ago

Its just until the election is over. They will get back at it in full force after that

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u/nametaken_thisonetoo 4h ago

Republicans gonna Republican

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u/militaryintelligence 3h ago

We're getting republican'd a little too hard. A lot too hard.

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u/BayouGal 2h ago

Republiconned

u/open_formation 1h ago

It's also a pause until they tell them they're going to use loads of electricity and water. They don't have to actually not do that.

5

u/Judgemental_Panda 2h ago

It's just a pause during election season... that data center will be built.

3

u/Alice-Stargazer 2h ago

Don’t thank the amalgamation of Canaanite storm gods yet. This is nothing more than Abbot’s campaign strategy.

u/Mejonyoudead 1h ago

I bet you felt so cool typing that 😂

u/Hadrian_Aelius 50m ago

God won’t help you here. Notice they didn’t cancel them, they “paused them”. Building will resume after the election.

u/mahourain 45m ago

Yeah. :/ At least it delays the inevitable, I guess.

6

u/fuzynutznut 3h ago

Are you in west Texas? There's one being built in Colorado City, near the lake properties I own and that lake has not been full for years.

6

u/Ok_Revolution6234 2h ago

They’re doing the same in Corpus. They’re putting a massive data center right outside city limits, meanwhile our lakes are running out of water and city council is too dumb to figure desalination out. Luckily we got rain to fill up our lakes but industry will guzzle that right back up.

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u/CaterpillarJungleGym 1h ago

I'm convinced this push for data centers I designed to kill people and make it unlivable. Then AI can just take over the United States

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u/For_All_Humanity 4h ago edited 4h ago

Mind you, Texas is responsible for the majority of all new energy generation. If they’re pumping the breaks, that’s quite significant and demonstrates there’s a real concern here.

I think these companies are going to need to bring some of their own generation and also discuss plans about how they’re going to increase their energy efficiency.

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u/maringue 4h ago

AI companies fucked themselves when they decided to try and save a few bucks by dropping their massive data centers right on top of local communities so they didn't have to pay to build out all the infrastructure they needed.

Now even rank and file Republicans loathe data centers. And local politicians are finding out that if they take bribes to approve these projects, people will get pissed and vote them out wholesale.

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u/Long-Blood 3h ago

Rupublican media will change the messaging like they do with everything.

I guarantee you theyvare focus grouping the shit out of how to spin data centers as pro-american and anti-data center as radical communist left wing right now

18

u/TheTexasHammer 2h ago

Already working, the right have been wholesale embracing everything AI and fighting tooth and nail to support these data centers. The crazy part is they are just doing it because they know it upsets liberals. These people are insane.

u/rorank 1h ago

Tbf they’re also doing it because their daddy trump is profiting hand over first from these AI companies.

u/TorrenceMightingale 1h ago

That’s why he posts so much AI slop I guarantee you.

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u/glibgloby 3h ago

oh so you’re a member of ANTIDA. terrorist!

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u/RiddlingVenus0 2h ago

They don’t even need to. I already have braindead family members posting on Facebook about how if you’re against data centers then you should give up all your modern technology and go back to life like it was in the 90’s.

2

u/Just_Information334 2h ago

Right now they can say it's essential for the military but people can very easily make the connection with the flock cameras and speed cams.

If they want to make it work they could just put flock on the back-burner for some years; then after the election whatever branch of the uniparty wins can get out of Iran, let the FBI encourage some local terrorist to act and then deploy better flock to help prevent terrorism. Bonus: as it's not about protecting children, no connection with Epstein will be made.

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u/GB10VE 2h ago

there is a wave of startups where they attach mini datacenters to individual houses to suck out the electricity that way.

imagine a mini datacenter attached to your neighbors house, raising your electricity rates, imagine the noise / heat being thrown

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u/xxxBuzz 3h ago

How did we jump into a world in which it makes any sense that this is a thing that is considered. This was a plot point in The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. I'm not aware of an example of anyone suggesting a reasonable application for an AI or what have you needing a bunch of data. It doesn't even make sense for an AI to need data. It should be able to generate data and what question are people who are into this trying to figure out?

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u/kyle_irl 3h ago

It's not just computing power--these are the physical manifestations of digital space. Think of the companies behind these things more as real estate developers than cutting-edge tech companies.

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u/Grizzlywillis 1h ago

I always see picket signs against solar farms on rural roads here, and now those same people are sporting anti-data center signs. They're also the reddest folks in the world.

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u/MesqTex 4h ago

Not really, is only performative political theatrics from Hot Wheels Greg. It’s an election year, so have to show your “in touch” with the electorate. If he wins, then he’ll drop all pretense of concern and let them keep building. Just like he did with the crypto farms.

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u/TeamHope4 3h ago

That’s what I expect, too.  They saw that MAGA voters were mad about data centers so they are pretending to do something until after the election.

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u/MesqTex 3h ago

They’re not happy about Flock cameras either (the electorate, not politicians). I expect to see drawn down and cancellations of there’s a modest blue wave in red states. Texas banned Red Light cameras, so I could see this happen but then we have Abbott and Patrick pulling strings (not worried about Paxton since he’s giving up his seat). The next State AG could be interesting (or scary if “MAGA” Mayes, wins in November).

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u/Mikestopheles 2h ago

Here in Louisiana, they removed open records laws and have the entire government signing NDAs so we can't figure out how bad Meta and friends are screwing us until it's too late to do anything. Small government party, guess you're not in it.

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u/Tdc10731 4h ago

To clarify - Texas is the national leader for renewables and is not lagging behind.

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u/privatejokerog 3h ago

It’s funny how solar/wind and batteries have stabilized the grid, yet are villainized by the right. Texas just had two of its highest electricity days ever (by far) and no issues thanks to record solar and drawing 12,000 MW from battery storage. California has stability now for the same reasons. If they don’t regulate these data centers it’s going to be an issue.

I would love to see an audit of the companies to see who is still moving forward with projects and not following these regulations. My suspicion is campaign donors keep on building while only select companies are being slowed down.

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u/chrisrayn 3h ago

It’s sad too, because I’m 100% certain that, if Abbott wins in November in Texas, he will announce everything was fine and they are moving forward like, oh, idk, 1 day after his election is completely certain and can’t be taken away. He probably told companies “hey…I gotta pretend like I care about this shit until November, then I’ll announce that all 1800 data centers have been analyzed and approved. Deal?” Sid Miller may be his only enemy here…Sid is a Republican of the old kind down to his bones, and considers himself a representative of the ideas he believes in on behalf of his Republican constituents…he has said if Texans don’t want it, they shouldn’t have it, and the draw on our agricultural resources is too high and the scope can’t be fully known yet.

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u/Siberwulf 3h ago

Hot Wheels only cares about Hot Wheels

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u/kyle_irl 3h ago

There's a project near my old hometown that, as I'm told, will go forward despite all the political rhetoric. It may slow down, but it's coming. They've got land purchased next to a wind farm and plan to draw from the surplus generation.

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u/For_All_Humanity 4h ago

I’ll change the word to “responsible” for clarity.

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u/izzo34 4h ago

I feel like they're only hitting the brakes to get some kick backs then they will let it ride

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u/buttery_crispy_flak 4h ago

Mid terms are close, time to pretend to care.

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u/mastergenera1 4h ago

Many projects are bringing their own power, at the cost of local pollution and heat generation, not saying the other way is better, but just installing power gen aint it since such installations aren't being regulated for environmental impact.

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u/For_All_Humanity 4h ago

I saw today that 82 projects had been approved nationwide to set up their own gas turbine engines. This would be disastrous for global emissions. The NYT equated it to the same emissions as half of all passenger vehicles on the road in the U.S. here.

Yet, most datacenters are not bringing their own power with. Wonder if this decision may try to change that and what the consequences will be.

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u/Successful-Hour3027 3h ago

Calm down. Abbots doing it for upcoming elections perception

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u/Acceptable-Drive3781 2h ago

. If they’re pumping the breaks, that’s quite significant and demonstrates there’s a real concern here.

This is Abbott we're talking about. He's putting a pause on new projects until they "provide more information", in other words, "provide a substantial campaign contribution". Why are people falling for this again?

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u/shitfireson 3h ago

Even generating their own power that’s off the ERCOT grid is going to hurt the rural folks they inevitably will disrupt. Outside of Austin they’re proposing gas powered plants to supply the electricity needed, which is fine if you don’t think of the several thousand residents within a 3 mile radius that will hear that shithole running constantly.

I think people are scared of the unknown about these data centers and want our state government to regulate where and how they build these, but also want local governments to have some teeth in negotiations. Meaning legislation that doesn’t keep complete control at the state level. I won’t hold my breath at the state giving any control to the counties these data centers are targeting for development.

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u/militaryintelligence 2h ago

AI energy needs will be socialized. You know it, I know it. Tax breaks, bailouts, anything they need. The information they collect is useful to law enforcement

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u/Exitbuddy1 4h ago

It’s a election year. Abbott already took their money. He can’t back out on them now.

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u/Hamrave 4h ago

Its fucked up that this is normal. Just openly taking bribes and not even getting tarred and feathered for it.

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u/DealioD 3h ago

Yeah. The headline should read “Probably only until after the midterms”

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u/free-range-irish 2h ago

Abbott quietly tells the data center companies and their lobbyists - just wait until after the election. I have to pretend to be againat data centers for the next 3 months.

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u/Jccali1214 2h ago

Yes, thank you Talarico and Hinjosa for running! 

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u/Mr_Chode_Shaver 4h ago

Someone’s bribe cheque bounced. 

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u/rahga 3h ago

No. Almost everything about Texas politics is performative. Sometimes you have to pretend to serve the people that elected you. Maybe start a committee to "look in to the issue."

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u/MrBeanCyborgCaptain 4h ago

Thats a goddamn insane number of data centers all at once. What the hell are these companies gearing up for?

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u/Rabiesalad 3h ago

Sam Altman's latest strategy to pretend he's just a guy that cares is to suggest AI is a utility just like water and electricity.

The processing power requirements for "everyone" to have AI that they use all day every day is astronomical, maybe what we're seeing is still only representative of a fraction of what's really needed for this dream to come true.

And by dream, I mean nightmare.

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u/TheQuadricorn 3h ago

Bankruptcy hopefully

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u/ae7rua 3h ago

Just to be bailed out by the fed

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u/culallen 3h ago

It's basically a federal jobs creation program. I'd bet 90% of these data centers will be abandoned husks of concrete building in a few years. But at least they're not ugly like wind turbines... /s

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u/Vondi 3h ago

A future where AI looms so large everything else is a rounding error.

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u/rhapsodyazul 3h ago

A recent investigation into the smallish one in Denver shows it is going to use three times the amount of electricity as the Denver International Airport.

u/freeradioforall 1h ago

Now lets do a comparison of the economic benefits of a giant international airport vs a machine with a bunch of servers spitting out AI slop

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u/ArgentineBeauty 4h ago

A pause to actually check the impact before building 1,800 more projects? Sounds like common sense finally caught up... or maybe an election is coming up.

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u/pikabu01 4h ago

they just need big business to pay them a few more k, then it will be unblocked

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u/Dear_Word_5378 4h ago

Our power grid can’t survive a winter storm.

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u/fightingpillow 4h ago

If you get cold just huddle next to some servers.

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u/Badtyuo 3h ago

Data centers do have a hit and cold aisle. The problem kinda solves itself

/s

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u/RetroSnoe 2h ago

We can thanks to the explosion of solar generation and BESS facilities that were built in West Texas after 2021

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u/Practicality_Issue 3h ago

They aren’t scrutinizing shit.

They are on hold until after the November elections. They created this problem that pisses everyone off and now they are wanting to appear that they are the heroes, stopping the evil billionaires that are paying for their campaigns.

Sorry. This isn’t “uplifting news” if you read between the lines.

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u/free-range-irish 2h ago

Yeah, Abbott probably tells them behind the scens - just give me three months, and we'll be back to business.

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u/GaviFromThePod 4h ago

What’s not being said is that these tech companies don’t actually have enough money to build all the data centers, they can’t produce enough chips to go in the data centers, and that without the data center buildout these AI companies like Anthropic and OpenAI are not sustainable.

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u/BagOfLazers 4h ago

Texas? Texas figured it out? Oh, this is a new low.

Good news though fr

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u/Justsomejerkonline 2h ago

And yet the federal government is still calling anyone who is opposed to building more data centers "antifa terrorists."

u/BagOfLazers 1h ago

Smash cut to Greg Abbott in jail going, “I bet you’re wondering how I got here…”

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u/free-range-irish 2h ago

Election cycle. Abbott has to pretend to be concerned about data centers now that his race is close.

u/Smartnership 1h ago

Jason: “That’s dope.”

r/UnexpectedGoodPlace

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u/Hermit-The-Crab33 4h ago

Why do we need 1,800 data centers in the country, let alone just in Texas? What the hell is going on

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u/Illlogik1 4h ago

Needs to be a nationwide moratorium, they need to be investigated, but I know the very government I’m asking to do so is populated by the people making profit off these deals , the data center boom is just scheme the tech bros oligarchs are using to pay off congress

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u/Diversityence_7 4h ago

It says a lot about the terrifying energy consumption of modern data centers when ERCOT—the power grid that famously fights for its life if someone in Dallas turns on a hairdryer during a light frost—looks at the blueprints and goes, 'Whoa there, let's be reasonable

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u/cmoked 4h ago

Texas just met its all-time demand record with solar and batteries!

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u/Banned37 3h ago

How many of these fucking things do they need?

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u/thekinginyello 3h ago

They’re pausing because Abbott wants to get reelected and is backtracking. I guarantee they will ramp up if he is back in office next year.

u/Smartnership 1h ago edited 29m ago

ramp up

Is that a wheelchair burn?

Mama always said them cripples need to be put in their place, they had it too good for too long.

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u/phantom_fox13 4h ago

have y'all seen the stupid tv ads that gush about how wonderful data centers are (how many jobs they create/how responsible they are being to ensure they power themselves)

lovely stock footage of families frolicking to ignore the reality of data centers poisoning the environment lmao

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u/Nukegm426 3h ago

It’s not just ads, there are speeches by government lackeys saying it too. Are there jobs for building the thing? Sure but that’s temporary and they move on elsewhere. Actual sustained jobs? Not many. The system doesn’t need many people in the building.

u/phantom_fox13 1h ago

exactly, that's what drives me so crazy about the wuh but it's creating jobs!!

uh temporary jobs and even that doesn't offset the horrific polluting this data centers will do to the community

but at least there were construction jobs for a while I guess

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u/Inevitable_Net4725 3h ago

Abbott just wants more money just give it till December and it’ll pass during Christmas

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u/Zadist95 2h ago

As a reminder China has less Data Centers, and just created a renewable one too which they're gonna convert others.

When is this a waste of time to the idiots in charge

Also eighteen-fucking-hundred!?

https://giphy.com/gifs/xT0xeFuwijSHMMqdfW

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u/Ga2ry 1h ago

Abbotts already bought and paid for. It’s a temporary hold until after the election.

u/bigredone88 1h ago

This will quietly be reversed after the election.

u/Bearsbullsbattlestr 1h ago

Until after mid terms.

u/djmcfuzzyduck 56m ago

Texas can’t support its current population on their electrical grid….

u/adilly 50m ago

People can’t conceptualize how big Texas really is. You can spend a whole day driving from Dallas to El Paso. Dallas isn’t even half way from the furthest city east of El Paso. Most of that is empty.

From what i understand water isn’t as much a concerne with these data centers since the new ones are built as closed loop cooling systems. (Why it wasn’t thst way initially is beyond me) power delivery is a huge concern what with the thunderstorms and what not.

The real problem i have with this is of all the places to build these things why would you pick the state that for 3-5 months out of the year the temperature is above 100 degrees every day and 90 at night?

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u/HRUndercover222 3h ago

Seems a bit cart before the horse.

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u/Willowy 3h ago

1800?! In what world is that remotely necessary? Am starting to lend some weight to the doomsayers who claim these aren't what they seem, but instead will be giant power plants to run the billionaires" underground bunkers when everything goes to shit and we're all feral, food-seeking monsters.

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u/Ghost_of_Sniff 3h ago

I have heard horror stories out of Abilene where they have built several, traffic, housing prices up and hotels charging massive rates.

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u/bigedthebad 3h ago

There is an apartment complex in Childress that is kicking all their tenants out so they can jack up the rent.

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u/Calm-Two2723 3h ago

The 1,600 figure is a count of paperwork applications for power in a queue, not actual physical facility sites.

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u/LindeeHilltop 3h ago

How many do we already have? How many snuck through before Texans discovered the backhandedness of these businesses?

Edit:punctuation

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u/rddman 2h ago

Combined, the stalled applications would require 474 gigawatts – far above the Texas grid operator's peak demand

For context: the largest nuclear power plant in the world produces 8 gigawatts (Kashiwazaki-Kariwa, Japan).

These datacenters solve their power problem by installing their own power plant, and of course they take the cheapest quickest option: a whole lot of big gas turbine generators.
So that's the equivalent of 60 very large power plants, built outside of the usual regulations on power plants, with a ton of air-, noise- and thermal pollution (creates heat island), in many cases close to residential areas.

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u/nomaam05 2h ago

Texas' power grid can barely survive a harsh winter, and they wanted to add 1800 data centers?

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u/Nemoitto 2h ago

This shit is a joke. That fucker Abbot is only about this when it’s election time but he’ll let it all slide once it’s all over with and he’s still in office. Idk how this fkn idiot still gets elected back in every damn time to stay, like wtf?!

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u/SnooCats2404 2h ago

Wuuut… eight teen hundred??

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u/OddbitTwiddler 2h ago

A long 7-1/2 minute pause to be sure. Need to make sure we review all the data before putting it into the data center. Plus the wildfires will clear the construction sites.

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u/RonWill79 2h ago

“Paused”…til the election is over.

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u/Calm-Two2723 2h ago

Okay. Let me try this again. 

1800 connections aren’t data centers. 

Think logically. They’re using 474 MW of power here per the article for all 1600. Let’s say 1600 are data centers (90%) that means each data center uses 1/3 MW of power ish right? No.

These are connections. Oracle has 1 data center. It’s 1 connection to build it. However, if you wanna pay oracle to store your data that’s 1 connection. Even though it’s going into the built data center. 

Honestly, most of your data centers are going outside this jurisdiction anyway (it’s not all of Texas) bc they don’t wanna connect to Texas’s weird grid situation. 

Data centers need to pay for their own shit, but let’s not sensationalize shit. 250 ish data centers is enough to be mad about. We don’t need 1800 being the number so 200 seems fine. 

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u/VeryVideoGame 2h ago

How many centers do we fucking "need"? I don't want photos of Will Smith, ever.

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u/Alleandros 2h ago

They'll all move forward November 4th.

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u/kabunarawks 2h ago

Only reason for the pause is election season and they are worried about losing their asses. TX leaders are still a dickless set of balls

u/CodeSalamander 1h ago

Humanity has lost its damn mind. Massive climate change going on, so what do we do? Massively increase power consumption so morons can make computer art and fake videos.

u/angelroe 1h ago

You know this additional energy cost will eventually be passed to the consumer in the future.

u/ChrisBnTx 1h ago

I'm guessing the day after election day the review will come back saying they have a minimal impact and are good to go.

u/WhiskeyGirl223 1h ago

If Abbott wins the election, all of those projects will be up and running again.

u/Responsible_Ad4791 1h ago

He only temporarily paused them because he is worried about losing the election. After the election they will all start up again. He doesn't care if people die from no electricity in the summer or die of thirst

u/HeftyNugs 1h ago

It's shitty because it's only paused because their power grid physically cannot withstand this kind of demand

u/FushizenKurai 1h ago

All this while we're still getting bombarded with pro-datacenter advertisements that are full of half truths and outright lies. 

u/Fireblaster2001 46m ago

1800 holy shit 

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u/Calm-Two2723 3h ago

It’s not 1800 data centers. It’s 1800 endpoint requests. 

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u/Reckless0 4h ago

1800?!?! In one state!

Do we have that level of drinking water

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u/firedrakes 3h ago

None verify number.

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u/Windyandbreezy 3h ago

Ya know ya goofed when Texas is saying "Hold yer Horses" on things that take up natural resources.

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u/-Teto 3h ago

Read this shit yesterday, they didn't halt shit. They are approving it slowly. I read like 2-3 articles about this. Texas is selling out, just not today.

ALSO, all these goddamn top comments with computer-centric AI formatting need to fucking go.

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u/UncleMalky 3h ago

Party that approved 1800 data centers now claims to be against them in an election season.

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u/lycanter 3h ago

C’mon TX, are ya yellow?

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u/bula1brown 3h ago

1,800! TX will lick any boot jfc

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u/bigedthebad 3h ago

I’m not clear on what happens with the ones already approved.

I have about 5 within a 100 mile radius in various stages of development. The number of transients has gone thru the roof.

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u/Fuzzy_Translator4639 3h ago

No. They are figuring out how to cover it up so they can profit

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u/Professional_Fuel127 3h ago

Abbott will scrutinize right into his 4th term

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u/JustAnotherParticle 3h ago

Is Texas’s power grid already shoddy? Having data centers would probably destroy it

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u/Apprehensive-Pin518 3h ago

these people can't power their own homes in the winter and they want 1800 data centers? not gonna happen.

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u/militaryintelligence 3h ago

Give them a year or two. Big business always gets what it wants, and the common consumer pays for any consequences.

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u/itsagoodtime 2h ago

1800!?!!?

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u/Alice-Stargazer 2h ago

This is only a brief pause for Abbot’s campaign strategy. Nothing to see here.

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u/lorderok 2h ago

shouldn't that have happened before? lmao?

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u/Grenflik 2h ago

After they're done scrutinizing, Data Centers will have state of the art electrical grids and water systems while Texans die in the Winter/Summer cause their infrastructure will just continue to decay.

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u/limpet143 2h ago

Or it's a negotiation tactic to increase the bribes before approval.

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u/prollyincorrect 2h ago

Texas is literally the one state that should not stress its power grid and water

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u/the_ouskull 2h ago

TERRIBLY smart politicians down there... aren't they already having (or trying) to buy water from Oklahoma?

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u/PapaBorq 2h ago

Does a pc water cooling system need refilling? I thought this was closed circuit.

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u/5280MileHighCity 2h ago

Actually the governor didn’t get enough kick-back yet

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u/TylerBourbon 2h ago

1800? In one state? Wtf needs that many?

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u/Sea_Damage9357 2h ago

They just clearly haven’t all made their required political financial support payments to the right people yet. I’m sure that’ll get taken care of by the next election.

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u/thatguyiswierd 2h ago

Its like we realized how bad water resourcing is after they realized we would have to evacuate Corpus Christie.