Gavin Baker Says Texas Governor Elect Gina Hinojosa Will Let Already Permitted Data Centers Finish Into 2027 and 2028
The governor-elect of Texas, Gina Hinojosa, has explicitly said that all currently permitted datacenters in Texas will be allowed to finish construction. This essentially covers all of the 2027 and likely well into 2028. She is going to pass laws that ensure that all *newly* permitted datacenters going forward for delivery in 2028/2029 will pay taxes, commit to no increase in power prices for consumers, don’t impact water availability for people, be constructed with union labor and give “Texans a seat at the table.” Sounds reasonable. She doesn’t want to lose a lot of good blue collar jobs and property taxes for small towns in rural Texas. Datacenter commentary starts at 6:30 in this interview. Also attaching her official campaign position from her website in the next post. Sidenote: After watching a bunch of her speeches and interviews, I do think she is a political talent and probably has a future in national politics.
Context
Texas holds a large share of planned US AI data center capacity, so a clear signal that permitted projects can finish matters for how fast labs can add compute.
Gavin Baker (@GavinSBaker) is an investor who covers AI infrastructure. Gina Hinojosa is the governor elect of Texas after the Nov 3 elections. Data center permits and power rules became a midterm issue in several states.
Deep dive
Gavin Baker (@GavinSBaker) posted on Nov 5 that Texas governor elect Gina Hinojosa has explicitly said that all currently permitted data centers in Texas will be allowed to finish construction, covering all of 2027 and likely well into 2028.
According to Baker, she plans laws so newly permitted data centers for delivery in 2028 and 2029 will pay taxes, commit to no increase in power prices for consumers, avoid hurting water availability, use union labor and give Texans a seat at the table. He called that reasonable and said she does not want to lose blue collar jobs and property taxes for small towns. He pointed to an interview segment starting at 6:30 and said he would attach her campaign position next.
These points relay Baker's reading of her remarks and campaign materials. They are not a signed statute.
The post is a concrete counterweight to fears that Democratic wins would freeze data center buildouts overnight. Texas alone is often cited as a large share of planned US capacity, including in a Goldman Sachs warning already in the Nov 4 deck.
The post drew more than 4.5 million views.
What to expect next
Watch for Hinojosa's official statements and any early bills on taxes, power prices, water and labor for new data centers. Developers with Texas permits will update project timelines. Other states may copy a permitted projects finish, new projects face stricter rules split. AI labs and cloud companies will weigh Texas against other sites. Campaign site language versus signed bills will decide how firm the finish permitted projects promise really is.