Abbott Halts New Texas Data Center Grid Links as AI Power Demand Threatens 20%-30% Cost Rise
Updated
Updated · Fox News · Aug 20
Abbott Halts New Texas Data Center Grid Links as AI Power Demand Threatens 20%-30% Cost Rise
3 articles · Updated · Fox News · Aug 20
Summary
Texas has stopped new data center projects from connecting to its main grid until regulators complete a comprehensive audit of how much strain they could place on power supplies.
Dallas Fed research underpins the concern: existing data centers have already lifted average wholesale electricity prices 2% to 6% nationwide, with larger jumps in concentrated markets.
By 2028, researchers' middle-case scenario shows electricity generation costs running 20% to 30% above a no-new-data-center baseline, though household bills would rise more gradually because wholesale power is only part of retail rates.
A single large data center can consume as much electricity as a small city, forcing utilities to consider new plants, transmission lines and substations and raising the question of whether developers or other customers absorb those costs.
Texas is not alone: Pennsylvania has tightened oversight of large projects, and New York imposed a one-year moratorium on new hyperscale data centers as states weigh AI investment against grid reliability and affordability.