Paxton and Talarico both promise cheaper energy, but their records on data centers and climate differ sharply

The two major-party candidates in Texas' U.S. Senate race are making nearly the same promise on energy, according to an analysis published Sunday by the Texas Tribune and the nonprofit outlet Capital & Main: that they will be the one to bring prices down.

Daniel Cohan, a Rice University professor of civil and environmental engineering, told the outlets the similarity is surprising given how differently Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton and Democratic state Rep. James Talarico have acted in the past. Both are trying to own the issue of lowering energy costs, he said.

Grayson County's ballot lists Paxton, Talarico and Libertarian Ted Brown for the seat. Early voting begins Monday, Oct. 19.

Data centers

The article puts the number of data centers operating, planned or under construction in Texas at nearly 400, citing the firm Electric Choice, and says more than half of Texans oppose having one built in their community.

Paxton: In August he released a plan to bar Chinese technology from U.S. data centers and to make companies liable when their data centers power AI chatbots that harm children. He has pledged to co-sponsor a bill from Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Arkansas, that would exempt off-grid power systems with large loads, data centers among them, from most federal electricity rules. He also backs Gov. Greg Abbott's plan to make data centers pay for their own power infrastructure and to repeal their sales tax exemptions.

Talarico: He also wants those exemptions repealed and data centers to cover their own infrastructure costs. He goes further on local control, saying communities and local governments, not the state, should decide whether a data center can be built.

Critics point out that Paxton, as a state senator in 2013, voted to give data centers the sales tax exemptions he now wants to end, the article says. A Talarico campaign spokesperson, JT Ennis, accused Paxton of handing data center companies billions in tax breaks. The Paxton campaign did not respond to the outlets' requests for comment on his energy positions.

Gas and utility bills

Both candidates support ending the federal gas tax, now 18.4 cents a gallon. Talarico would suspend it temporarily; Paxton would end it for good.

Talarico has also called for more money and broader eligibility for the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program, which helps families pay utility bills, with changes meant to send hot states like Texas a fairer share. The article says Paxton has not proposed anything specific on the program.

Their records

As attorney general, Paxton has sued the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency repeatedly to block federal air, water and emissions rules. In 2024 he said he would use every available avenue against what he called the Biden administration's extremist climate agenda.

Talarico in 2021 wrote a Texas House bill aiming to cut the state's greenhouse gas emissions 90% below 1990 levels by 2050. He now describes his approach as all of the above, saying oil and gas jobs must be protected while new jobs are created in geothermal and hydrogen.

Cohan told the outlets the winner could be the 51st vote for a Senate majority, which would shape what energy legislation moves in the next Congress.

Sources

The Texas Tribune

co.grayson.tx.us