A rural Texas county on Tuesday approved a one-year pause on the construction of new data centers in unincorporated areas, citing public safety and public health concerns.
The 3-2 vote by county commissioners in Hill County, roughly 55 miles south of Fort Worth, appears to be the first by a Texas county to issue a moratorium on the rapidly expanding industry.
Residents and local officials had aired concerns about how a proposed 300-acre development by the Dallas-based developer, Provident Data Centers in north Hillsboro could impact the quality of life in the rural county through noise pollution and consuming large amounts of water and electricity.
“The data center folks have found a sweet spot in the state that has limited regulations, limited enforcement, limited code, and they’re coming faster than we can keep up with,” said Hill County Commissioner Jim Holcomb. “I think it’s imperative … that we tap the brakes and we get our arms around what we’re faced with and do the research, do the studies.”
Holcomb, who voted for the pause, said the move was in “no way, shape or form a push to impair anyone’s right to do with their own property what they want to do with it.”
County Judge Shane Brassell said the temporary pause will allow officials time to study the effects of data centers before projects move forward.
Representatives of data center developers pleaded with the county to reject the moratorium and said they are bringing money to the county for schools and roads. Holcomb said that many developers called him the night before, as late as 10 p.m., asking him to vote down the moratorium.
It’s not clear how many data centers have been proposed for Hill County. Brassell said he knows at least eight are in the works because he hears through word of mouth about farmers who have sold their land to data center developers, but he added that developers aren’t required to disclose their plans to the county.
Before commissioners voted, County Attorney David Holmes cautioned them that they risk being sued by passing a moratorium. “You’re damned if you and damned if you don’t,” Holmes said.
The decision comes amid a growing statewide battle over Texas’ data center boom, particularly in rural counties where projects are rapidly moving into unincorporated areas with no zoning. In neighboring counties, residents have increasingly voiced frustration that projects are advancing faster than public understanding or oversight.
Other Texas counties, including Hood and Hays counties, have explored similar moratoriums. In Hood County, where at least eight large data center projects are pending, efforts to slow development drew pushback from state leaders.
Houston-area state Sen. Paul Bettencourt sent a letter to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton on the day of the Hood County vote, claiming that counties have no constitutional or statutory authority to impose development moratoriums and asking Paxton to investigate counties that passed one. Hood County commissioners rejected the pause.
Robert Paterson, a University of Texas at Austin professor who specializes in land use and environmental planning, said it’s unclear whether counties have the authority to adopt such moratoriums because Texas doesn’t have “a good test case.”
But Paterson said the county is on “good grounds” legally because its moratorium has an end date and county leaders expressed a need to study data centers’ potential risks to public health and safety.
See here for some background. I will say two things: One, Hill County voted 81.8% for Donald Trump in 2024. It’s hard to be redder than that. And two, I fervently hope that Bettencourt and Paxton and Greg Abbott go all in on bringing the hammer down on them. I want it to be as clear as possible to these people who is on their side and who is not.
As a corollary, I hope James Talarico and Gina Hinojosa are paying attention to all this. No one wants data centers in their backyard. Sure, some of that is NIMBYism, but there’s nothing but downside for the locals. Less available land, more noise, higher electric bills, big demand on the water supply, and none of these places provide jobs in any worthwhile numbers. Oh, and we’re all subsidizing the construction of these things. It’s hardly any wonder people everywhere are saying No to these things. So again, you go on fighting for them, Bettencourt and Paxton and Abbott. Make sure everyone knows it, too.
“The data center folks have found a sweet spot in the state that has limited regulations, limited enforcement, limited code, and they’re coming faster than we can keep up with,” said Hill County Commissioner Jim Holcomb. “I think it’s imperative … that we tap the brakes and we get our arms around what we’re faced with and do the research, do the studies.”
Wait…I though conservative republicans didn’t believe in big government overreach and job killing regulations. It sounds like their capitalist utopia is operating exactly like they designed it to work.
So what if the data centers kill the community and destroy the environment.
At least the billionaires are happy, immigrants are being deported, and Christian values are being upheld.
Am I right?
“Hill County voted 81.8% for Donald Trump in 2024. It’s hard to be redder than that.”
You would think, but 118 counties in Texas managed to do just that both by voting percentage and margin.
It’s sad that I looked at 81.8% as knew immediately that it wouldn’t rank all that highly for Texas. Obviously, that’s partially a function of Texas have a shitload of counties (254), the vast majority of which have few people in them. But, yes, 81.8% is pretty damn red.