Texas Gov. Greg Abbott told state regulators on Monday to halt data center connections to the power grid.

The governor directed the Public Utility Commission of Texas and the state's grid operator, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, to audit all data centers that are moving through Ercot's interconnection process before any more projects move forward.

The audits should include information on water use, whether data centers are providing their own power or depending on the grid, whether projects are using state and local tax incentives, and the "extent to which data centers are using measures to reduce impacts on neighboring property owners and communities."

"Any project that fails to comply with the requirements set forth by the PUCT and ERCOT, and by state law, must be denied connection to the Texas grid," Abbott said in a news release. "Simply put, Texans must come first."

Abbott in June directed regulators and the grid operator to protect residential customers from paying for infrastructure needed to serve data centers.

Uproar around data centers has become a national political issue. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul last month announced a one-year moratorium on large data centers.