Gov. Abbott orders data centers to pay own power grid costs as rural counties face limited authority

BRYAN, Texas (KBTX) - Gov. Greg Abbott on Tuesday directed state regulators to make sure data centers pay for the cost of connecting to the power grid and that residential electric bills go down as a result.

Abbott ordered the Public Utility Commission (PUC) and ERCOT to ensure data centers pay their own infrastructure costs.

He is also pledging to push the state legislature to repeal tax breaks for data centers and require them to reduce noise and community impacts.