On Wednesday, August 19, 2026, the Austin AI Alliance and the Austin Forum on Technology & Society hosted a community town hall to address the realities, risks, and rewards of AI infrastructure in Central Texas.
The town hall featured industry experts who tackled tough questions from audience members on subjects such as strain on the ERCOT grid, impacts on local water tables, neighborhood livability, and utility rates. The panel also addressed some pros and cons of various architectures such as closed-loop thermal cooling, on-site power generation, and low-footprint facility designs.
The panel offered a wide variety of perspectives and included:
- Mark Strama (moderator), Director of the Annette Strauss Institute for Civic Life and Professor of Practice at UT Austin’s Moody College of Communication
- Amy Polvado, Founder and CEO of Facilimax, and CEO of Red River Infrastructure
- Annie Hardy, Chief AI Architect and Futurist at Split Futures
- Stan Kitzman, Texas State Representative for House District 85
- Drew Kassel, Energy Analyst with IdeaSmiths
For those interested in how data centers impact infrastructure, communities, the environment, and more, the following materials provide similar insight into the data that was discussed by the panel members:
- Congressional Research Service — Data Centers and Water: Frequently Asked Questions (July 2026)
- EPRI — Powering Intelligence 2026: Updated Scenarios of U.S. Data Center Electricity Use and Power Strategies
- Texans for Sustainable Futures — Water Security in the Age of Hyperscale Data Centers (May 2026)
- UT Austin Bureau of Economic Geology — Data Center Growth in Texas: Energy, Infrastructure, and Policy Pathways