New York · US Senate · Tom's Hardware
Texas has suspended 17 data center construction permits and shut down automated portal that rubber-stamped projects
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Texas has suspended the construction permits of 17 data center projects and disabled a web portal that automated filing for new permits after it was discovered that they were still being issued a month after calls for the process to be paused.
Key facts
- While President Trump announced an "AI Action Plan" to accelerate adoption of AI tools and infrastructure rollout in July 2025, he announced a mandate forcing AI data centers to pay dividends
- Governor Abbot put the brakes on 1,800 data center projects while work was done to audit them
- The situation in Texas follows New York's year-long ban on data center projects larger than 50 megawatts that came into force earlier this year
- The Responsible Data Center Development Act was signed into law as Senate Bill S10642 by New York Governor Kathy Hochul in July
Summary
Now, the portal that previously automatically authorized permits is unavailable. The portal, called STEERS, is used to rubber-stamp construction approvals. But despite Governor Abbott's call for no new permits to be approved, it seems that nobody thought to take STEERS offline. Governor Abbot put the brakes on 1,800 data center projects while work was done to audit them. “Any project that fails to comply with the requirements set forth by the PUCT and ERCOT, and by state law, must be denied connection to the Texas grid. The situation in Texas follows New York's year-long ban on data center projects larger than 50 megawatts that came into force earlier this year.