Equinix has invested more than $1.6 billion in Texas, with over $1 billion in additional projects now active, and the data center operator is backing Governor Greg Abbott's new state standards and audit process for the industry. The company said it will keep working with the state to show its practices meet the new bar as it expands capacity for artificial intelligence and digital infrastructure.

Nine facilities, over 800 jobs

Equinix runs nine facilities in Texas: eight in the Dallas-Fort Worth area and one in Houston. The company employs more than 800 people in the state and says its Texas facilities drew more than 57,000 visitors, including customers and partners, over the past year. Equinix opened its first Dallas facility, an International Business Exchange data center, more than 25 years ago. Its flagship Dallas site, at the Infomart building, is the most interconnected building in Texas.

The company said its Texas infrastructure supports services used by some of the state's largest employers, spanning aerospace and defense, oil and gas, manufacturing, airlines, hospitals, universities, banks, government agencies and public safety organizations. That includes financial systems, 911 emergency communications and streaming platforms.

Backing Abbott's audit process

"Our ties to the state go well beyond megawatts and square footage," said Arquelle Shaw, Equinix's president of the Americas. Shaw said Equinix supports Abbott's approach on grid costs, water use, community impact and transparency, and called it consistent with how the company already runs its operations.

Equinix said it pays the full cost of connecting to the power grid in Texas, so those costs are not passed on to consumers. The company also pursues water-responsible cooling and partners with Dallas-area schools on technical education and career pathways. Equinix said the commitments fall under its Community Principles, which cover public infrastructure investment, power responsibility, jobs and skills development, natural resource protection and bridging the digital divide.