Real Estate
Home›Real Estate›Industry›California and Texas tighten rules on data center deve…
California and Texas tighten rules on data center development
California’s new package of seven bills requires data centers to pay for grid upgrades and adds requirements tied to wildfire costs, water and power disclosure, and on site clean energy.
New regulations in California and Texas add to a growing wave of state limits on data center development as public sentiment toward the AI boom sours, according to Bisnow. The moves come from governors with contrasting political views, highlighting a nationwide willingness to add hurdles to a sector facing rising voter pushback.
In California, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a package of seven bills that imposes new requirements on data center operators and developers, while expanding state oversight of electricity use and water consumption. The legislation requires data centers to cover grid upgrades needed to provide power, and to take on a greater share of wildfire mitigation and liability costs.
The California package also calls for developers to disclose information on projected power and water demand and workforce needs, and to provide nearby communities with additional project information during the approval process. New data centers are also required to incorporate on site clean energy resources, as Newsom said the laws are meant to ensure Californians retain control over impacts from data centers.
In Texas, Gov. Greg Abbott has also issued new restrictions, and the article notes that both states had previously sought to grow the sector in their own ways. Bisnow frames the policy shift in both places as part of a broader trend among elected officials nationwide to restrict a growing but increasingly unpopular industry.