Rhonda Ward, a first-time candidate for elected office who previously served on the state GOP’s policy committee, is challenging Trent Ashby for the East Texas seat.

Texans from Waco to Harlingen are raising concerns over how much energy and water data centers are poised to use. Local officials, some enticed by a tax boon, say they have little power to stop the rush.

The 3-2 vote from Hood County commissioners Tuesday came after they received a letter from a state senator saying they did not have the power to issue a moratorium.

Meta’s planned data center could be El Paso’s biggest electricity user. Some residents worry that a new power plant to run it would worsen air pollution and guzzle water.

As artificial intelligence pushes demand for more data centers, companies are drawn to the state’s relatively inexpensive land and natural gas that can run on-site power plants.

ERCOT is making a first attempt at a planning process in which multiple requests will be considered simultaneously.

The project is at a scale of industrial development and investment unmatched in McLennan County’s history: acres of computer hardware, substations and a 1.2-gigawatt gas-fired plant capable of powering about 300,000 homes.

The announcement by Alphabet and Google CEO Sundar Pichai is the latest multi-billion dollar investment in Texas by tech companies racing to build infrastructure that can support advanced artificial intelligence.