Texas suspended construction permits for 17 data center projects and took the STEERS automated permitting portal offline after it continued approving applications despite Governor Greg Abbott's September 2026 call to pause new data center permits.
Where
Statewide
When
October 2026
Sources
Reported by 3 outlets
Taxes and money
None stated in sources.
Who's involved
Greg AbbottGovernor of Texas
FracTracker AllianceWatchdog group that reported permits were issued after pause order
Public CitizenWatchdog group that reported permits were issued after pause order
Sam LawResearcher at FracTracker
Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ)State agency that disabled portal and suspended permits
The facts
Abbott called for new data center permits to be paused in September 2026.12Stated by 2 sources
FracTracker Alliance and Public Citizen reported more than two dozen permits were issued after the pause order.12Stated by 2 sources
STEERS portal approved projects for OpenAI and Amazon after the pause order.12Stated by 2 sources
All 17 suspended permits concern stormwater construction for raising and leveling land.123Stated by 3 sources
Abbott paused work on 1,800 data center projects pending an audit.12Stated by 2 sources
TCEQ disabled STEERS to ensure all applications are reviewed by agency staff for data center ties.123Stated by 3 sources
Stormwater construction permits are a key part of the approval process for all construction projects in Texas.12Stated by 2 sources
Who said what
These are statements and claims made by the people involved. They are reported, not verified.
Abbott Our top priority is to protect Texans' safety and quality of life; Texans must come first.12
Sam Law, FracTracker Some developers may keep building without knowing their permits were pulled.3
Where the sources disagree
When the STEERS system continued approving permits For a month after Abbott's call per [1]; system still processing approvals when reports came out per [3]
How they headlined it
The same event, as each outlet put it. Marked words appear in only one outlet's headline.
Texas has suspended 17 data center construction permits and shut down automated portal that rubber-stamped projects — site was left running for a month after Greg Abbott called for a pause on approvals
These outlets were found through Google News headlines. Google decides which outlets appear there, and they lean mostly one way, so this sheet can only be as balanced as the reporting it was built from. Leanings are AllSides Media Bias Ratings.
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