A Texas state agency has filed a lawsuit to keep information about the locations of data centers and cryptocurrency mines hidden, arguing that publishing details could help terrorists or hostile foreign actors target critical infrastructure. The Public Utility Commission (PUC) of Texas, which regulates the state's electric utilities and other utility industries, is challenging rulings by Attorney General Ken Paxton's office that say the information can be released. The PUC asked a Travis County judge on Monday to block the release of the information, the Texas Tribune reported.
Newsweek contacted the PUC and the Texas Attorney General's Office for comment via email on Wednesday. The legal dispute stems from a public-records request by a McLennan County resident and four journalists for responses to the PUC's 2025 survey of data centers and cryptocurrency mines. The PUC argued the information was protected under the Texas Homeland Security Act, but the Attorney General's Office ruled twice that the agency had not shown that the records disclosed protected security vulnerabilities.
The PUC is now challenging those rulings in a Travis County court. The agency argued that information about which county a data center or cryptocurrency mine is located, and the regional water-planning area it's in, should be "privileged." It said these details, when combined with other data collected in its 2025 survey, could become sensitive. "This combined disclosure would give a person intending an act of terrorism or a hostile act by a foreign adversary of the United States what the released fields alone do not," the lawsuit said, per the Tribune.
The PUC is not seeking to keep the entire survey results confidential, but specifically the county and regional water-planning information. Texas lawmakers directed the PUC in 2025 to gather data on how much electricity and water data centers and cryptocurrency mines are using. The goal was to provide state officials with information about the resources needed to help them plan for future demand as the industry grows.
The PUC was also required to share the findings with other state agencies and produce a report. The voluntary survey received limited responses, with 77 data centers and 13 cryptocurrency-mining facilities responding as of August, despite it being sent to 377 facilities, the PUC told the Tribune. Texas has seen a surge in proposed data centers as demand for AI computing grows.
The expansion has sparked growing opposition over their use of electricity and water, as well as concerns about the impact on local communities. With November's midterm elections approaching, data centers have also become a political flash point. Republican Governor Greg Abbott, once a vocal supporter of making Texas a hub for AI development, has increasingly backed tighter restrictions on data centers amid his reelection campaign.
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