Rural Texas Pushback Tests Abbott Over Data Centers and Power Lines
Rural voters across Texas are souring on Gov. Greg Abbott amid rapid data-center growth and a $33 billion plan to expand a 765-kilovolt transmission grid, fueling concerns about water use, outages, local control, pollution, and the erosion of rural identity; Abbott’s pause on new data-center approvals and push for guardrails have not won broad support, and some Republicans are weighing voting for a Democrat in November as rural backing for Abbott weakens.
