Outgoing Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller Warns of Data Center Backlash

By sheer numbers, Texas already has more existing and planned data centers than China, thanks to a policy that has turned the state into an incentive paradise for tech companies capitalizing on the AI boom—but that strategy may be backfiring.

Across the country, states are waging an enticement war to lure tech giants like Amazon Web Services, Microsoft, Alphabet, Oracle, and Meta, offering subsidized utility rates, expedited environmental approvals, property tax breaks, and payroll credits. Yet public opinion is turning sharply against the boom.

Sid Miller, the outgoing Texas Agriculture Commissioner, has become one of the most outspoken Republicans—perhaps in the entire country—demanding stricter data center regulation. His stance puts him at odds with Governor Greg Abbott, who is struggling in a tight reelection bid, and even with former President Donald Trump, who has repeatedly endorsed Miller.

The backlash against the data center surge has become a potent electoral issue ahead of November’s midterms. A Gallup poll this month found 70% of Americans oppose a data center in their community, while Texas Politics Project polling in August showed 57% opposition, higher in rural areas. Critics cite massive water and energy consumption, land use, noise, light pollution, and the rapid proliferation of these facilities.

In his signature white cowboy hat and Texas drawl, Miller has been warning of a voter backlash against the industrial AI boom, suggesting it could derail Abbott’s reelection. After losing his own primary bid earlier this year, the outgoing commissioner told Rolling Stone that data center regulation could be the make-or-break issue of the midterms.

Where did this all begin for you?
It started well before the primary election, over a year ago. My first concern was the loss of good farmland. Data centers, crypto mines, solar farms—all want to locate on our most fertile land.

The reason is simple: it’s cleared, flat, has electricity, often water and irrigation, and is in the county so there’s no oversight, regulation, or permits needed. Once paved over, that land is gone forever.

I realized how much water and electricity they consume, so I raised the alarm. For a long time, I was the only voice—Democrat or Republican—calling for guardrails. Then Democrats picked up on it and made it a campaign issue. I first called on Abbott for a one-year moratorium, but he wouldn’t do it. He did nothing for a long time except take $21 million from data center interests.

How did Greg Abbott respond?
When he wouldn’t do the moratorium, I urged him to call a special session to get the legislature in and pass regulations with immediate effect. He wouldn’t. I said, if you’re serious, you have a conflict of interest—give that $21 million back, or better yet, donate it to the AgriStress Helpline for mental health support in rural Texas. He did none of the three.

Do you think it will hurt Texas Republicans in November?
I predict—hope I’m wrong, I’d love to eat my words—that we’ll lose some statewide races for the first time in 30 years. Republicans, I’m talking about.

It’s a death by a thousand cuts: data centers, Flock cameras, massive transmission lines, the THC ban, forced school vouchers, and no property tax relief in 12 years—taxes keep rising. Fifty thousand votes here, 25,000 there, 100,000 over there add up, and it’s a midterm where Republicans historically do terrible.

The polling coming out on the race between Abbott and Gina Hinojosa is a bit surprising. She’s managed to really close his lead.
I think Abbott may lose.

The numbers with James Talarico at the top are very encouraging. Democrats see blood in the water, they’re turning out, and they see a possible victory—the first in 30 years—which won’t help Abbott.

It seems like now Abbott is moving to slow down environmental permit approvals for data centers, but at the same time the Texas Public Utility Commission voted to soften regulations this week.

What he was trying to do was stall long enough to get past the midterms, letting the legislature handle it and pushing new laws and regulations to not take effect until September 2027, so his campaign donors get grandfathered in. Data center constructors can get a Texas Commission on Environmental Quality permit in less than a week, so even though he stopped TCEQ from issuing new permits, it doesn’t affect the four or five hundred already approved.

What exactly was Abbott offering these companies to get them to come to Texas?
Like $2 billion of tax incentives, and by next year it’ll be $3 billion. The comptroller audited 20 data centers, and six were out of compliance—no more than a fifth. They audited only 20, so who knows about the rest? Bottom line, they’re not meeting their obligations.

Are you hearing concerns from other Republicans at this point?
I’m disappointed Republicans aren’t really coming around. Abbott is trying to appear that he is, but most have taken money from data center interests. My primary opponent, Nate Sheets, had a data center guy as his largest single donor. They’re tiptoeing around, doing a little to look in touch, but they still need money. So Texas farmers, ranchers, and consumers are getting nothing from the Republican side.

What are Texas ranchers and the people in communities where data centers are being built telling you?
They’re mainly angry at Abbott for inaction. They’re mad because land next to a data center is worth less than half. No one wants to live next to a data center with noise, light pollution, and traffic. They’re mad because the 1,500-acre place they leased is gone, bought for a data center, so they have less land to farm. Rental rates have skyrocketed, making it unaffordable for working people. Hotels are full, rent quadruples, and they have to move 30 or 40 miles away and commute.

This also seems to be colliding with another issue, which is that Texas farming is in its own viability crisis, and many family farmers and producers are choosing to sell off and cut their losses.
Well, you can’t blame the farmer. We haven’t made any money in 10 years. If somebody offers 10 times what the land is worth, you put it in the bank and your family is set for generations. No more breaking your back with 12-14 hour days. It’s tempting. Some are principled and won’t sell, but it’d be hard to turn down.

Zooming out to the bigger picture. Obviously, this is becoming an issue in a lot of other states, and it’s becoming a major force leading up to the midterms. What do you make of Trump’s response to this? Essentially saying that those who are skeptical of AI and data centers are “stupid”?
I’m a huge Trump supporter. I disagree with him on this—and the imported beef—but that’s about the only thing I’ve disagreed on.

We won the AI race. It’s over. China is fourth down with 439 data centers and gone. We’re gonna have more than that just in Texas. Nationwide, I think there are about 5,000. You could call that a win if there was a race. No one’s gonna get close to the number of data centers in America, so that’s a non-issue.

The issue now is how we put guardrails around it, how we regulate it, when there’s even talk of AI taking over the human race.

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