Texas’ Data Center Debate

Texas’ typically pro-business governor did an about-face on data centers amid growing public sentiment against the resource-intensive developments.

Less than a year ago, Gov. Greg Abbott lauded Texas as “the epicenter of AI development” when Google announced a $40 billion investment in November, the Texas Tribune reported.

He changed his tune this week when he called for an outright ban on data centers in rural areas during a campaign stop in Bullard, per the outlet. The announcement built on a letter Abbott sent to the Texas Legislature in June when he called for regulating data center development in Texas. Specifically, he’s called for implementing annual reporting, limiting incentives for data center development and requiring data centers to use close-loop water systems.

Data centers, which have popped up all over Texas as AI companies pursue unprecedented levels of processing power, have stirred up opposition from residents who complain of the developments’ noise as well as water and power usage. Data center construction nationwide eclipsed $50 billion for the first time in April.

Also this week, San Marcos, which is located between Austin and San Antonio, became the first city in Texas to attempt to ban data centers. So far, data center bans in Texas have fallen apart at the county level under the weight of legal challenges. State Sen. Paul Bettencourt has already vowed to challenge San Marcos’ ban under House Bill 2559, legislation Abbott signed in 2025 to restrict municipalities’ ability to halt development.

Abbott’s new stance on the data center issue, juxtaposed with the years he’s spent presiding over state encroachment of municipal power in Texas, will certainly make for an interesting legislative session, scheduled to start in January.

Bill Hutchinson’s accusers awarded $430K each

A jury found Dallas developer Bill Hutchinson civilly liable for sexual assault and ordered him to pay $860,000 to the two women who sued him, the Dallas Morning News reported. The jury rejected the allegations of a third accuser. The three women filed the lawsuit in 2021, the same year Hutchinson was twice arrested in connection with sexual assault claims by a minor. They sought $40 million apiece in damages.

Hutchinson pleaded guilty in 2024 to sexual battery involving a 16-year-old girl, which required him to register as a sex offender. His attorney Levi McCathern said the conviction was expunged. Hutchinson appeared on the TLC reality show “Marrying Millions,” which featured him and his 23-year-old girlfriend, a woman he met when she was 18.

Hutchinson, who founded Dunhill Partners in 1984 and is credited with developing Dallas’ Design District, stepped down as CEO after this arrest, but has since resumed the role.

San Antonio broker indicted for fraud

Jorge Herrero’s legal troubles are far from over. The broker and owner of CommonWealth Coffeehouse was indicted in federal court on counts of bank fraud and identity theft for his purchase of a building in the Dallas suburb of Grand Prairie, the San Antonio Business Journal reported.

Herrero allegedly lied to a lender when he purchased the building, telling the lender that the Texas Facilities Commission renewed its lease when it hadn’t. Herrero never repaid the loan, and Bexar County Court awarded the lender a $1 million default judgment.

It’s the latest in a string of legal issues for Herrero, who lost two locations of his coffee shop chain at a foreclosure auction in May. Herrero has also faced legal challenges from a landlord accusing him of negligence in an office deal he brokered and an investor who accused him of soliciting investor funds to buy property but never actually purchasing the buildings.