AUSTIN (KXAN) — More than 300 data centers are currently operating in Texas, with approximately an additional 200 planned and nearly 100 already under construction.
KXAN obtained data from Data Center Map to track data centers across the state. Meanwhile, Texas currently does not have a complete inventory of all data centers in the state, Public Utility Commission Director Connie Corona said at a Texas Senate committee hearing on Sept. 2.
Texas Data Center Tracker
Texas has the second most data centers in the country, following Virginia at 674, according to Data Center Map. However, Texas reportedly surpassed Virginia as the No. 1 state for data center growth, according to data released by real estate services company Jones Lang LaSalle Inc. in late August.
Data center growth in Texas comes as residents raise issues around energy and water consumption, public health and safety.
In early August, Gov. Greg Abbott halted future data center projects from connecting to the state’s power grid and directed Texas energy regulators to conduct a comprehensive audit to determine whether ongoing developments comply with state requirements. Abbott said the proposed power demand from data centers could threaten the electric grid.
As of early August, ERCOT was considering more than 474 gigawatts of requests to connect to the Texas electric grid, about 90% of which came from data center projects.
And University of Texas at Austin researchers estimate data centers could account for about 9% of the state’s water usage within the next 20 years.
A sales tax exemption led data centers in Texas to save billions. At a Texas Senate Finance Committee hearing held July 27, lawmakers said it cost the state $3.3 billion in forgone taxes during the 2028-29 budget cycle.
Data center costs shouldn’t transfer to taxpayers in the state, the Public Utility Commission of Texas and the Electric Reliability Council of Texas said in late July. The utilities provided details on the steps being taken to protect residential ratepayers from the costs of data center expansion.
CyrusOne currently has the most data centers in Texas at 35. Its largest concentration of data centers is in the Dallas area.
Fermi America’s data center planned in the panhandle will have the largest energy consumption out of all projects in the state at 11,000 megawatts.
Dallas is the leading metro area in the state for companies setting up data centers, with 263 operating, planned and under construction. San Antonio follows with 85. Austin is third with 75 data center projects.
Out of 655 data centers in Texas Data Center Map shared with us, 29 are not mapped because their location was labeled secret in the data. Skybox Datacenters owns the most locations with addresses withheld, all within about 25 miles north of Austin near Hutto.
