Gov. Greg Abbott, R-Texas, this week ordered a state regulatory board to penalize data centers that failed to properly report their water use to the state.

Data centers are effectively large warehouses full of hard storage devices. They require considerable electricity to run and rely on vast amounts of water for cooling. Concerns their construction could raise local energy costs or pose a risk to the water supply have driven much of the backlash to their expansion.

Abbott's directive alerted the Texas Water Development Point to the apparent failure of Texas data centers to report their water use and ordered the panel to levy legal consequences against them, The Hill reported.

“Data centers must share the duty to protect Texas water. The Texas Water Code requires a complete and accurate water use survey," Abbott stated. "I direct the Texas Water Development Board to use its enforcement authority to penalize past failures and to impose legal consequences for any future failure to comply."

Abbott's move comes roughly six weeks before the midterm elections. He is seeking reelection in November and several polls have shown both his contest and the Senate race to be unusually competitive for the typically Republican-leaning Lone Star State.

Ben Whedon is the Chief Political Correspondent for Just the News. Follow him on X.