Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico proposed reforms for data center development on Wednesday that bore significant similarities to Gov. Greg Abbott’s (D-TX) recent recommendations for Texas, signaling a bipartisan consensus in the Lone Star State’s approach to the industry.
Though Talarico and Abbott sit at opposing ends of the political spectrum, both men support ending tax breaks for data centers, requiring developers to pay for their own grid interconnection and infrastructure costs, and requiring the technology hubs to use closed-loop water systems that reuse water. Their posture is emblematic of growing unity among red and blue states on the matter, where officials have often expressed conditional support for data centers, recognizing the essential role they play in powering the technology grid, but calling on them to pull their own weight and listen to local concerns.
