Last week I sent you the breakdown of Speaker Burrows' House interim charges. Lt. Gov. Patrick released the Senate version the next day, and it deserves its own look. The House gave data centers to two committees. The Senate gave them to four.

Here's why that matters for you.

The $3.3 Billion Question

The sharpest charge in either chamber belongs to the Senate Finance Committee. Patrick directed it to study the state cost of the data center sales tax exemption, which has grown from $14.6 million in 2014-15 to a projected $3.3 billion for 2028-29.

That's a 226x increase. The charge cites specific Tax Code sections and directs the committee to "make recommendations providing safeguards to ensure that Texans benefit from data center investment."

The House Ways and Means charge asks about tax incentives broadly. The Senate Finance charge names the numbers. When both chambers ask the same question at different levels of specificity, the more specific version drives the legislation.

If you use the data center sales tax exemption, this study determines whether and how that incentive survives. Lead with economic impact data, not lobbying talking points.

Three Charges, One Committee

Business and Commerce got the broadest data center mandate: "balance economic development benefits of this growth against the impacts on landowners, private property rights, water infrastructure, and community integrity." Every pressure point in one sentence.

But that wasn't all. The same committee also received charges on the Texas electric grid (SB 6 rulemaking, interconnection rules, ERCOT load forecasts) and transmission modernization (ERCOT interconnection process changes, distributed energy, storage). Three charges, each hitting data centers from a different angle. Business and Commerce is the center of gravity for data center policy in the Senate.

The committee also received "Managing the Impacts of 765-kv Transmission Lines on Private Property Rights." Those are the backbone lines that serve gigawatt-scale loads. Developers need them built. Landowners along proposed routes don't. This charge has no House parallel, and the hearings will set the political environment for transmission buildout.

Water Is Now a Two-Chamber Priority

The Senate Water, Agriculture, and Rural Affairs Committee received a charge to assess "the water demands of energy-intensive technologies, including data centers." The House Natural Resources Committee got a similar mandate.

Two committees, two chambers, two hearing schedules. Water consumption transparency and conservation commitments aren't differentiators anymore. They're table stakes.

Where Both Chambers Overlap

Four areas now have parallel charges in both the House and Senate:

Data center growth and regulation (House State Affairs + Senate Business and Commerce)
Water consumption (House Natural Resources + Senate Water/Ag/Rural Affairs)
Grid and interconnection (House State Affairs + Senate Business and Commerce)
Property tax and incentives (House Ways and Means + Senate Finance)

When both chambers study the same issue independently, legislation in the next session is more likely. Four overlapping areas means four legislative vectors pointing at 2027 bills.

KXAN: Data Centers and the Interim Charges

I joined KXAN this week to discuss what the interim charges mean for data center developers in Texas. The segment covers the Quinnipiac poll showing 65% of Americans oppose data centers in their community, the PUCT's proposed interconnection rules (which would be the toughest framework in the country if finalized), and the public comment period that closes April 17.

Watch the full segment here.

What This Means for You

Your testimony opportunity just doubled. Your hearing schedule just doubled. The developers and operators who show up to both chambers with consistent, data-backed positions on water, tax incentives, property rights, and grid impact will shape the conversation before a single bill is filed.

The ones who wait will be reacting to legislation written by people who did.

I wrote the full analysis with every charge that touches data centers, energy, water, and AI. Read it here.

For the complete series covering both chambers: Interim Charges Hub.

Source documents:

Wishing you and your family a blessed Easter weekend.

The Lieutenant Governor's $3.3B Question