Utility regulators sue to keep data center locations out of public records, citing terrorism risk

The state agency that regulates Texas utilities is going to court to keep the public from learning which counties host the data centers and cryptocurrency mines that answered its survey on power and water use.

The Public Utility Commission of Texas filed suit Monday in Travis County against Attorney General Ken Paxton's office, The Texas Tribune reported Tuesday. The commission wants a judge to rule that two pieces of information in the survey responses, the county where a facility sits and its regional water planning area, can be withheld under the Texas Homeland Security Act.

What the fight is about

Lawmakers in 2025 told the commission to gather data on how much electricity and water these large computing sites use. The commission built the survey with the Texas Water Development Board and sent it to 377 facilities, asking about location, power demand, projected peak load, cooling systems, water use and water sources, according to the Tribune.

Participation was voluntary and thin. As of August, 77 data centers and 13 crypto mining sites had responded, a commission spokesperson told the Tribune.

A McLennan County resident and four journalists, including a Tribune reporter, asked for the responses under the Texas Public Information Act. The commission refused and asked the attorney general for permission to withhold them. The attorney general's Open Records Division ruled twice that the commission had not shown the location fields reveal the kind of infrastructure weaknesses the homeland security law protects.

Both sides

The commission argues the county and water planning area become sensitive when combined with the rest of a survey response. Linking a site to its power and water details, the lawsuit says, could help someone planning an attack on the grid or drinking water systems. The agency is not asking to seal the entire survey.

The Tribune noted that location also matters for water planning: Texas relies on regional planning groups to project future demand and plan supplies, and state law requires them to account for projected water use.

The commission told the Tribune it does not comment on pending litigation. The lawsuit is not a final decision on whether the information will be released, and it is unclear whether other details, such as facility names or water use, will become public.

The case comes as Gov. Greg Abbott has ordered state agencies to take a closer look at data centers seeking to connect to the grid, including their power and water use, and directed the Water Development Board to act against facilities that do not file required water-use reports.

Sources

The Texas Tribune