Texas data centers are legally required to report their water use — but 83% are ignoring the law. Plus a $100M lawsuit just forced a county to abandon its moratorium, Florida's new ratepayer protection law hits July 1, and Nvidia just energized one of the most powerful AI campuses on earth in West Texas.
🚨 **COMMUNITY** — 83% of Texas data centers ignored the legally-required state water survey. Only 17% responded to the Water Development Board's annual survey. Diode Ventures refused community town halls, refused to discuss water or electricity usage, and refused to testify before the House Natural Resources Committee. Failure to respond is a Class C misdemeanor — but the state does not enforce it. (Source: Texas Tribune / KUT Radio, June 26, 2026)
⚖️ **LEGAL** — Hill County, TX became the first Texas county to pass a data center moratorium — then a developer filed a $100M federal lawsuit within days. RCM Hill LLC cited $80M+ in existing land contracts covering 800+ acres. The county voted unanimously to rescind the moratorium in a June 4 closed-door session. The $100M lawsuit remains active. (Source: Texas Tribune / KWTX / KERA News, June 5-7, 2026)
⚡ **POWER** — Florida Gov. DeSantis signed SB 484 on May 7 — effective July 1 — barring utilities from passing data center electricity costs onto residential and small-business ratepayers. Data centers drawing 50+ MW must pay their full cost of service. Utilities must file PSC compliance plans by Oct. 1. (Source: FlGov.com / Data Center Dynamics)
🏗️ **NEW BUILD** — IREN's Sweetwater 1 — 1.4 GW of AI compute capacity — was energized on the ERCOT grid May 1, 2026. Nvidia signed a $3.4B managed cloud contract and holds a $2.1B equity warrant. Sweetwater is the flagship for Nvidia's DSX AI factory architecture. A second 600 MW phase starts in 2027. (Source: NVIDIA Newsroom / DCD)
💧 **WATER** — Colorado has zero state rules requiring data centers to disclose or limit water use, despite a multi-year drought. Large facilities can use up to 5 million gallons per day — the equivalent of 50,000 households — with no oversight. (Source: Rocky Mountain Voice / EESI)
🏛️ **POLICY** — Oklahoma Gov. Stitt signed HB 2992, the Data Center Consumer Ratepayer Protection Act, unanimously supported by both chambers with 36 bipartisan co-authors. Requires 75+ MW facilities to cover their own electricity and infrastructure costs and notify neighbors within 60 days of land acquisition. Effective July 2026. (Source: Oklahoma House / Fox23)
💰 **INVESTMENT** — Applied Digital Corporation plans Delta Forge 1 — a $3.6 billion, 300-acre AI data center campus in Boyce, Louisiana (pop. under 2,000). The company's largest project to date, targeting hyperscale AI and HPC workloads. (Source: Investing.com / Data Center Knowledge)
💰 **INVESTMENT** — Hyperscale Data Inc. signed a Master Services Agreement with a California-based neocloud for 20 MW of AI compute, expected live Q4 2026.
