Texas Gov. Abbott orders data center permit halt weeks after issuing moratorium

AI AgePublished Mon, Sep 21 20265:56 PM EDTUpdated 1 Min AgoKey PointsTexas Gov. Greg Abbott ordered a pause on environmental permits for new data centers until an audit of the existing waitlist is conducted.The audits were originally ordered by Abbott in August, when he also imposed a moratorium on new data center grid approvals.Data centers have been a flash point in the 2026 midterm elections, including Abbott's bid for reelection.People protest against data center development outside the Austin Marriott Downtown on Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2026. Jay Janner | Austin American-Statesman | Getty ImagesTexas Gov. Greg Abbott on Monday ordered the state's environmental regulator to halt all data center-related permits until the Electric Reliability Council of Texas completes an audit of the existing waitlist for data centers looking to connect to the state's grid. The audits were originally ordered by the governor's office in August, when Abbott also imposed a moratorium on new data center grid approvals. This directive expands the moratorium to environmental approvals through the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.Texas was on track to surpass Virginia as the state with the largest data center market in the world by the end of the decade, according to a February report from JLL, but Abbott's Monday directive may slow that progress. The data center buildout has been a breakout issue in the 2026 midterm election, with a recent NBC News poll finding 64% of Americans would be less likely to vote for a candidate who "supports building local data centers." Abbott, who is running a tight race for his fourth term against state Rep. Gina Hinojosa, has specifically been caught in the middle of the firestorm. Abbott has had to reverse course on his 2025 claim that Texas, due to its sales tax exemptions for qualifying data centers, as well as its high-profile projects like OpenAI's Stargate, would be the "epicenter of AI development.""Next session, Governor Abbott will work with the Legislature to eliminate any financial incentives for data centers," the press release for the moratorium said. The TCEQ is expected to provide an update to the governor's office on its compliance with this directive by Oct. 19.Read more CNBC tech newsElon Musk talks up AI safety while fighting regulation in wild week of strange alliancesOpenAI's latest AI revelation is a 'serious situation,' Microsoft's Suleyman tells CNBCAnthropic and OpenAI need truly independent safety evaluators, experts say in public letterAI safety debate meets reality at Dreamforce as business leaders say last year's models are enough