Meta President Dina Powell McCormick revealed one of the new governor-elects has requested a meeting about keeping pro-data center investments in their state.
Speaking with the Wall Street Journal at a technology conference on Wednesday, Powell McCormick declined to name the newly elected governor who asked to meet with Meta.
“We did have a governor that won last night who did make data centers a big part of their platform say, ‘As soon as we get past the inauguration, let’s meet because we don’t want to lose this investment in our town. We don’t want these jobs to go elsewhere,'” she said in the sit-down interview.
Though it’s unclear who the unnamed governor-elect is, it could possibly be Gina Hinojosa in Texas. She has called upon outgoing Gov. Greg Abbott (R-TX) to implement a statewide moratorium on new approvals for fast-tracked construction of data center projects until the Texas legislature can take action on the issue. State lawmakers are set to reconvene on Jan. 12, 2027, unless Abbott calls a special session before then.
The Lone Star State ranks second in the total number of data centers, behind Virginia. There are more than 500 data center facilities or projects in Texas, with roughly 300 currently operating.
Meta is building a massive $10 billion data center campus in El Paso. The tech company has two other data center facilities in Temple and Fort Worth. The one in Temple went operational in July.
Amy Acton and Keisha Lance Bottoms, both of whom campaigned on restricting new data centers, won the governor’s offices in Ohio and Georgia, respectively.
Powell McCormick admitted that the tech industry has not done a good job “to explain the benefits of these investments” for states. Meta has data centers in 23 different states, she said.
She also spoke about how the outcome of the midterm elections may make it harder to build more data centers across the nation.
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“I also think that it’s becoming clear what models work, and the states want those models that work because they want the ability to say we’ve invested, we have these jobs,” Powell McCormick said. “But there has to be local support.”
Public opposition to the infrastructure powering artificial intelligence has grown substantially this year, allowing Democrats to take advantage of the issue this election cycle. After taking over Congress next year, Democrats may move to impose new restrictions on data centers through legislation. However, they may have trouble enacting the legislation with a data-center-friendly president in office.
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[ H/T Washington Examiner ]
