Opinion: Why Data Centers Should Look West

The following is an opinion piece produced by Wayne Christian, an elected Commissioner on the Railroad Commission of Texas, the state’s oil and natural gas regulatory agency. 

By Wayne Christian

As Texas debates the future of data centers, I find myself asking a simple question:

Why are so many companies making this harder than it needs to be?

Over the last several months, we’ve watched local governments across Texas grapple with proposals for new data centers. Residents have raised concerns about electricity demand, water usage, noise, and land use. Some activists have even called for moratoriums or outright bans. Our Governor also recently implemented safeguards on power and water for data center development within agencies he controls.

As an oil and gas regulator, I’ve seen this playbook before. For decades, organizations like the Sierra Club warned that pipelines, drilling, refineries, and energy production would lead to environmental catastrophe. While responsible oversight is important, many of those worst-case scenario predictions never materialized. Today, we’ve allowed similar fears surrounding data centers to become a major political issue.

Even the Democrat running for Agriculture Commissioner, Clayton Tucker, has practically built his entire campaign on opposition to data centers, even though the Texas Department of Agriculture has no meaningful authority over their construction.

But just because many of the concerns are exaggerated doesn’t mean companies should ignore them.

Texas already has regions with abundant energy resources, industrial infrastructure, available land, and communities that understand large-scale development. Yet too often, companies seem determined to build projects in places where opposition is predictable, and conflict is unavoidable.

What if we rolled out the welcome mat to places that simply make better strategic sense?

West Texas has spent generations producing the energy that powers America. The region understands industry. It understands infrastructure. And unlike many rapidly growing suburban communities, it already has a workforce, culture, and economy built around large industrial projects.

More importantly, it has resources that data centers need.

Texas produces enormous amounts of natural gas, and in some areas, there is not enough infrastructure to move all of it to market. As a result, valuable natural gas is often flared because there is no economic use for it. Data centers drive demand for that energy while supporting new investment in power generation and strengthening grid reliability.

The same opportunity exists with water.

Across the oilfield, billions of barrels of produced water are recycled or injected underground every year. While significant work remains to expand treatment and reuse technologies, the long-term opportunity is clear. Resources that are often viewed as liabilities today can become valuable assets tomorrow. Instead of talking endlessly about scarcity, Texas should be looking for ways to turn abundance into opportunity.

That is the Texas way.

For generations, Texans have solved challenges not by shutting down development, but by finding innovative ways to turn problems into opportunities. We built pipelines when others saw stranded resources. We expanded power generation when others predicted shortages. We grew the economy by embracing abundance rather than accepting decline.

The same principle applies here.

I am not suggesting every data center belongs in the Permian Basin. Companies should be free to build where the economics make sense. But if I were advising these developers, I would spend a lot more time looking at West Texas and a lot less time walking into communities where they know they will face resistance.

Why spend years fighting local opposition when there are regions actively looking for new economic opportunities, abundant energy resources, and productive uses for resources that would otherwise go to waste?

Doing so would not only make business sense. It would create jobs, strengthen the grid, support local economies, provide new markets for Texas energy, and reduce many of the political fights that dominate today’s headlines.

Texas does not need a war between industry and local communities. We need smarter decisions about where projects are located.

Wayne Christian serves as an elected Commissioner on the Railroad Commission of Texas, the state’s oil and natural gas regulatory agency. Prior to his statewide service, he served seven terms in the Texas House of Representatives and built a successful career in business, banking, real estate, and financial services.