Articles · Land, water and permitting
Texas already had the power to ask.
Texas did not pass a new law to put data center water use on the record. It told the water board to enforce the one already written.
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On September 14th, 2026 the Office of the Texas Governor directed the Texas Water Development Board to compel major water users including data centers to report their water use. It also told the board to impose legal consequences for past and future failures. The instruction names two penalties. Neither of them is new.
The same day, the state's grid operator issued a market notice carrying the water board's own questions to data center developers. The two documents are the enforcement and the collection of the same requirement. What changed on that date is who is being asked and what happens to a company that does not answer.
The penalties were already on the books
The directive states that a data center failing to complete and return the survey commits an offense punishable as a crime. A data center that returns it late is ineligible for TCEQ permits, amendments or renewals under Chapter 11 of the Texas Water Code. Neither consequence is new. The Code already requires the survey, in its own present tense, and the permit bar sits in that chapter.
The board was told to use its enforcement authority against past failures as well as future ones. It must refer noncompliant data centers to the County or District Attorney and notify TCEQ for possible permit disqualification. The Governor's office states that major water users appear to have already committed civil and criminal violations by withholding required usage information.
The stated reason is the state water plan. The press release says the board is charged with writing that plan and can't do it while it is denied detailed information on existing and anticipated water consumption. That characterization belongs to the Governor's office, which is describing the board's position rather than quoting the board.
The instruction builds on an August 3rd, 2026 directive ordering the Public Utility Commission of Texas and ERCOT to audit every data center advancing through the interconnection process. The board must report its enforcement progress to the Office of the Governor by October 14th, 2026, with further updates after that.
The grid operator asks on the board's behalf
ERCOT's notice is aimed at developers of data centers 25 MW and larger, along with transmission and distribution service providers and market participants. The water questions in Section C are asked under the water board's Executive Administrator's authorization, and ERCOT forwards those answers back to the board.
That routing is the mechanism worth noticing. The board holds the survey requirement and the penalties. The grid operator holds the queue that every large new load has to pass through. Pairing them puts the board's question in front of companies at the moment they need something from the grid.
Responses are due on October 12th, 2026. A complete response has to carry a notarized attestation from the developer. Failing to answer any part of it is reported to the utility commission and the Office of the Governor. The notice also warns that under Texas Water Code 16.012, a recipient that does not fully answer Section C may face criminal penalties. That wording is conditional and it is not a statement that charges follow automatically.
The letter to the board also told it to partner with the operator on water consumption, sources of water supply and water-efficient technologies. The request is separate from the Batch Zero eligibility request issued earlier in September, which carries its own response obligation.
What the record can't establish yet
Neither document publishes a count of how many surveys went unreturned, or which companies did not file. The Governor's office asserts that violations appear to have occurred. It does not name a data center, a county or a volume of water.
Neither document announces a completed enforcement action. The directive creates a reporting deadline for the board rather than a docket a member of the public can read. Whether anything has been filed somewhere else is not something these two documents can answer. The first visible test is whether the October 14th, 2026 update names anything the board actually did.
The grid operator expects to publish a report on what the responses show no later than December 10th, 2026. Until then the water numbers sit with the companies that hold them. Neither the directive nor the market notice says how long the penalty has been on the books. What both of them say is that the state spent this month deciding to use it.
Sources for this story
- Office of the Texas Governor press release, Governor Abbott Directs TWDB To Penalize Data Center Reporting Failures, September 14th, 2026
- ERCOT Market Notice M-B091426-01, September 14th, 2026
Claim-by-claim verification · 21 claims
On September 14th, 2026 the Governor directed the Texas Water Development Board to force major water users including data centers to comply with water use reporting. The same directive imposes legal consequences for past and future failures.
Governor Greg Abbott today directed the Texas Water Development Board (TWDB) to compel major water users, including data centers, to comply with water use reporting requirements and to impose legal consequences for past and future failure to comply with state law.
The Governor's office states that major water users including data centers appear to have already committed civil and criminal violations by not giving the water board the required usage information.
Major water users, including data centers, appear to have committed civil and criminal violations through failure to provide TWDB with required information about water usage.
The Governor framed the directive as a shared obligation, saying data centers must share the duty to protect Texas water.
"Data centers must share the duty to protect Texas water," said Governor Abbott.
The Governor instructed the board to use its enforcement authority against past failures as well as future ones.
The Texas Water Code requires a complete and accurate water use survey. I direct the Texas Water Development Board to use its enforcement authority to penalize past failures and to impose legal consequences for any future failure to comply.
The press release states that the board writes the state water plan and can't do that job while it is denied detail on existing and anticipated water consumption.
TWDB is charged with developing a state water plan that meets the needs of Texans and cannot perform that task if it is denied detailed information on existing and anticipated water consumption.
A data center that does not complete and return the water board's survey commits an offense punishable as a crime.
A data center that fails to complete and return the survey commits an offense punishable as a crime.
A data center that misses the survey deadline also loses eligibility for TCEQ permits, amendments and renewals under Chapter 11 of the Texas Water Code.
A data center that fails to timely complete and return the survey is ineligible for TCEQ permits, amendments, or renewals under Chapter 11 of the Texas Water Code.
The board was told to enforce those remedies, including referring noncompliant data centers to the County or District Attorney and notifying TCEQ for possible permit disqualification.
TWDB must enforce those remedies against noncompliant data centers, including referral to the appropriate County or District Attorney and notice to TCEQ for possible permit disqualification.
This builds on an August 3rd, 2026 directive ordering the utility commission and the grid operator to audit every data center advancing through the interconnection process.
On August 3, 2026, Governor Abbott directed the Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUCT) and ERCOT to conduct a comprehensive audit of all data centers that advance through ERCOT's interconnection process.
The board must report back to the Office of the Governor on its enforcement progress by October 14th, 2026, with further updates after that.
TWDB shall update the Office of the Governor by October 14, 2026, on the progress of its enforcement activities, with further updates thereafter, including when the audit is complete.
The same day, the grid operator issued a market notice carrying its own number and pairing the data center impact request with the water board partnership.
M-B091426-01 Issuance of Request for Information Regarding Data Center State and Community Impacts
The request is aimed at developers of data centers 25 MW and larger, along with transmission and distribution service providers and market participants.
Developers of Data Centers 25 MW and Larger, Transmission and/or Distribution Service Providers, and Market Participants
The water questions in Section C are asked on the water board's behalf under its Executive Administrator's authorization, and the answers are forwarded back to the board.
The Executive Administrator of the TWDB has authorized ERCOT to issue the questions in Section C on TWDB's behalf, and ERCOT will forward the responses to these questions to TWDB.
Under Texas Water Code 16.012, a recipient that does not fully answer Section C may face criminal penalties.
In accordance with Texas Water Code 16.012, any failure to fully respond to the questions in Section C may subject an RFI recipient to criminal penalties and other potential consequences.
Responses are due at 5 p.m. Central Prevailing Time on October 12th, 2026.
5 p.m. Central Prevailing Time (CPT) on October 12, 2026
A complete response has to carry a notarized attestation from the data center developer.
a notarized attestation from the data center developer
Failing to answer the request, or any part of it, is reported to the utility commission and the Office of the Governor.
Failure to respond to the RFI or any part thereof will be reported to the PUC and the Office of the Governor.
This request is separate from the Batch Zero eligibility request issued on September 9th, 2026, which carries its own response obligation.
This RFI is separate from the Batch Zero Eligibility RFI issued on September 9, 2026.
The grid operator expects to publish a report on what the responses show no later than December 10th, 2026.
ERCOT expects to publish this report no later than December 10, 2026.
The August 3rd directive's scope names cooling technologies and water sources and consumption among the data center impacts the operator and the commission were told to gather.
including information about public financial assistance, dependency on grid power, water sources and consumption, cooling technologies, noise, light and traffic impacts, and ownership and controlling interests, among other topics
The September 14th letter told the water board to partner with the operator on water consumption, water supply sources and water-efficient technologies.
partner with ERCOT to audit water consumption, sources of water supply, and implementation of water-efficient technologies