Noting this for the record.
From Amarillo to Waco, College Station to Harlingen, Texans are raising concerns over the proliferation of data centers — and the tremendous amounts of water and energy they are poised to suck up.
Seemingly overnight, these sprawling campuses of computer servers meant to store information from websites and power artificial intelligence are popping up all over the state.
Just this month, the largest proposed data center in the U.S. was approved in Pecos County. That follows the start of construction of a $500 billion data center on the outskirts of Abilene and a planned 5,800-acre project in the Texas Panhandle that will include the world’s “largest energy campus,” according to its backers.
Together with more modest proposals near Waco, and just outside of Harlingen, Texas is emerging as a contender to challenge Virginia’s dominance in data centers.
In many of these places, Texans are demanding local elected officials intervene.
The small town of Lacy Lakeview north of Waco is partnering with the developer Infrakey on a proposed $10 billion data center, drawing an organized opposition campaign from rural neighbors around the 520-acre site.
Since November, the opposition has circulated a petition with some 3,000 signatures, created a Facebook group and website and held regular strategy meetings that have been attended by political leaders such as state Rep. Pat Curry, R-Waco.
Rena Schroeder, a Republican candidate for Texas Senate District 22, has also made appearances at the meetings, promoting herself as the voice for rural data center opponents.
Similar grassroots resistance efforts are taking place across the state.
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A governmental entity, whether it’s the city or the county, can’t say no, just for the sake of saying no or because it’s controversial, said Trey Wilson, a real estate lawyer from San Antonio with experience in land use law and who served as counsel to water districts in Texas.
Otherwise, the developer could sue the governmental entity for deprivation of private property rights. But within those limitations, there remains a lot of power in local government, he said.
Cities can control what happens within their limits through land use and utility control, while counties have no zoning authority and typically don’t operate utility systems.
City zoning maps determine what categories of uses are allowed in a given area, and if a data center project doesn’t have the needed zoning, it would have to secure a rezoning or variance.
Additionally, cities often control the water and electrical utilities needed for development, as in the case of College Station. Often, a city will require a developer, whether it’s a data center or a housing subdivision, to bring new water supply with them on condition of approval. The same thing applies to electricity usage.
“They don’t have a right to refuse service to a customer, they’ve got to make service available on reasonable terms,” Wilson said. “But if they already are struggling to keep up with existing demand or planned future demand, they have a right to impose conditions for approval on a new heavy water user.”
Existing city ordinances can come into play as well. If a data center creates a nuisance that violates zoning regulations, such as noise or light pollution, a government is not obligated to grant a variance to the developer.
In many instances, data centers are being built and proposed in areas outside city boundaries.
County governments have far fewer tools to regulate data centers — or any business for that matter. But counties do get to decide who gets tax breaks. And if county officials wanted to kill a project, they could refuse to extend favorable terms.
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Through last year, state leaders, including Gov. Greg Abbott, had forged ahead with a vision of Texas as the country’s leader in data center development, leveraging the state’s reputation for abundant gas supply and business-friendly regulations to attract billions in investment. At the same time, Republican leaders have taken steps to limit the power of local governments to enact rules in the interest of their residents.
That said, the state has taken belated steps to account for the rapid spread of data centers and other large, energy-intensive facilities. In 2025, the Texas Legislature passed a bill establishing requirements for companies that consume large amounts of electricity to run, such as industrial and petrochemical facilities and data centers.
Through Senate Bill 6, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas has the power to oversee energy transactions between power generators and large consumers like data centers that didn’t ordinarily involve the state’s grid. ERCOT also has the authority to cut their power and redistribute it during an emergency.
In parts of Texas where electricity comes predominantly from a single source, such as a municipal utility or an electric cooperative, companies interested in that power are expected to pay for the cost of that connection.
As Texas voters increasingly demand action on data centers leading into the March primary elections, the political momentum around regulating the industry has accelerated.
In February, the State Republican Executive Committee, which sets party priorities for the next legislative cycle, passed a near-unanimous resolution calling for “rigorous independent assessments” of proposed data center projects and their impact on grid reliability and water shortages before final approval. The resolution additionally called for a pause on “open loop” data centers, which use the most water to cool computer chips, as well as several other oversight and local control measures.
There’s a lot more, so read the rest. You might also listen to this recent episode of the Click Here podcast which reported on a successful effort to turn back a proposed data center in Missouri.
I’ve written a bit about data centers, which like crypotminers are often located in rural or exurban areas and are widely despised for noise, water and electricity usage, and just generally transforming the area into something residents don’t like and often feel steamrolled about. I’m not surprised that Republicans in those areas are beginning to push back on them, despite the Republican Legislature making it harder for their local officials to do so. I continue to believe this is an issue on which Democratic candidates can pick up some ground, especially for statewide campaigns since they will be aligned with the locals in ways that Greg Abbott and Dan Patrick cannot and will not be.
I will also note that some of the tactics and strategies noted here ought to work in a fight against ICE detention centers. Just don’t count on any help from Republicans on that one. But with determination and pressure and perhaps a bit of luck, it is possible to stop unwanted data centers and the purchase or lease of warehouses for detention centers, at least some of the time.