Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said on 15 October that his office had sent letters to 156 data centre developments demanding accurate, current information about their water use, Click2Houston reported. The letters form part of an investigation into compliance with state reporting law and include developments in Harris County.
Key points
- Paxton’s office has sought updated water-use information from 156 developments across Texas.
- Click2Houston reports letters in 32 counties; Texas Scorecard reports 30 counties.
- About 30% of the 329 data centres surveyed in 2025 responded.
- Failure to complete a required survey can bring a Class C misdemeanour charge and a fine of up to $500.
Paxton’s letters reach Harris County
The letters extend an investigation covering hundreds of Texas developments, including facilities that have not answered a Texas Water Development Board water-use survey. Harris, Montgomery and Waller are among 32 counties with developments receiving letters, according to Click2Houston. Texas Scorecard reports that the letters went to developments in 30 counties, including Harris, Dallas, Tarrant, Travis, Bexar, Collin, Denton, Montgomery and Williamson.
Paxton said his office was examining whether developers comply with state law and whether their operations impose unlawful costs on taxpayers or threaten critical resources. The letters ask recipients for information about their water use. The investigation also covers projects that did not answer the water board’s survey, rather than identifying every recipient as a non-respondent.
His office’s investigation remains ongoing, Texas Scorecard reported. That distinction matters to the companies receiving the letters: a demand for information is an investigative step, while a charge for failing to complete a required survey follows a separate route through local prosecutors.
The Texas Water Development Board’s survey
Texas requires large water users, including data centres, to complete annual water-use surveys. The Texas Water Development Board collects the responses to assess demand and plan for water needs 50 years ahead. Of 329 data centres surveyed in 2025, about 30% responded, the Texas Tribune reported.
The board’s survey has been the state’s means of tracking the industry’s water consumption. The Public Utility Commission of Texas also sought information in 2026 through a voluntary exercise that drew a low response. Paxton’s letters bring the attorney general’s office into the effort to obtain it, but the board remains the agency responsible for the annual survey.
Some operators have said they never received a survey. Cameron Poursoltan, the Data Center Coalition’s director of energy policy in Texas, said the organisation had worked with the water board on contact-information and data discrepancies that contributed to the initial low response rate. He said the coalition supports annual reporting because planners need accurate water data. Those explanations concern the reach of the survey as well as operators’ willingness to answer it.
County prosecutors hold the $500 sanction
A facility that fails to complete a required survey can be charged with a Class C misdemeanour and fined up to $500. It can also be barred from certain state funding and environmental permits. State officials do not know whether misdemeanour penalties have been imposed on data centres, and the facilities are not eligible for state funding, the Texas Tribune reported. Raising the Water Code’s Class C fines would require legislation.
Governor Greg Abbott instructed the water board to alert county attorneys and other local prosecutors to noncompliant facilities. Those local officials decide whether to pursue criminal cases. The board says it cannot prosecute violations itself. Under the Texas Government Code, Paxton lacks independent authority to prosecute local criminal cases unless a county or district attorney requests or appoints him to do so. His investigation and a local prosecution therefore involve different offices exercising different powers.
Abbott has also directed the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality to halt permits for data centre projects pending a state audit. AI Affairs reported the permit halt pending ERCOT’s grid audit. The pause operates through permitting rather than the survey’s misdemeanour penalty, giving state agencies a separate decision over projects seeking approval.
Abbott’s press secretary, Andrew Mahaleris, said the water board, environmental regulators, the Public Utility Commission and the Electric Reliability Council of Texas would work together on the enforcement effort. The governor has recommended that data centres pay for their own electrical infrastructure, adopt cooling methods that use less water and add generation to the state grid.
