North Texas is quickly becoming the nation's epicenter of data center planning and construction. KERA News, The Denton Record Chronicle and The Fort Worth Report have been following the industry boom and how North Texas communities are responding.
Data centers aren’t a new phenomena in North Texas. Many of them dot the side of North Central Expressway along the long-established Telecom Corridor from Dallas to Richardson and Plano. Some have been operational for more than a decade; many more are being planned or are under construction in suburbs and rural communities throughout the region.
In just a few years, North Texas has become the No. 1 primary data center market, according to a recent report by real estate firm Cushman and Wakefield.
As the industry grows, North Texas is struggling to keep up with pace of growth and the size of “hyperscale” or “mega” data centers that are meant to power artificial intelligence.
A recent survey from the North Central Texas Council of Governments finds that many cities and counties say they don’t have the infrastructure to support new data center developments.
"Because it's so competitive [developers] do their planning, they do the site work, they do there due diligence... before they even purchase the property," said Susan Alvarez, environment and development director for the council of governments. "Once they make that purchase or lease as the case may be then boom, it hits the government... so a lot of the local governments [are] having to play catch-up."
Nearly all respondents – 96% – said data centers can have the greatest strain on water resources. Another 81% are concerned over the strain to the power grid.
Public concern over the environmental, health and economic impacts of new facilities has also grown louder.
When Gov. Greg Abbott joined Google CEO Sundar Pichai last November in Midlothian to announce a $40 billion investment for new facilities, the governor said Texas would be the “centerpiece” for AI and data centers in the world.
Now with midterm elections right around the corner and growing backlash in communities, the governor is reining some of that rhetoric in. He recently called on ERCOT and the Public Utility Commission of Texas to audit water and power usage at any new data centers – as many as 300 projects – and pause their ability to connect to the grid until the audit is complete.
Data centers are also becoming a focal point in the elections themselves. The data center lobby donated thousands of dollars to Attorney General Ken Paxton’s U.S. Senate campaign, as first reported by the D.C.-based outlet NOTUS. Meanwhile, Democrat James Talarico has called on tighter regulations on data center development.
Locally, data centers are facing pushback in communities across North Texas. Here’s how each community is responding.
Dallas, Collin and Ellis counties
Greater Dallas has long been home to tech companies that have made data centers a part of the North Texas landscape. Major companies like Digital Realty and Stream Data Centers have an established presence throughout Dallas and the rest of the region.
Many facilities dot the map along major highways like Interstate 35 and Central Expressway, known as the Telecom Corridor near Richardson and Plano. Currently operating facilities stretch all the way from downtown Dallas to McKinney.
Some projects have gotten more attention than others, such as the planned facility at the current site of the storied Dallas Market Center. There's also plans for a data center at the former Dallas Morning News building in downtown Dallas. Many more are planned along the Trinity River basin and I-35.
Some facilities are categorized as co-locations, where the data servers share space with offices of other companies. They’re smaller than the massive hyperscale data centers – some of which are operating in the suburbs like Garland and Irving.
Southeast Dallas and North Ellis counties are seeing the explosive growth of planned hyperscale campuses. Major tech companies like Amazon and Google have registered plans to build centers near Lancaster, Red Oak and Wilmer — where residents have called on city leaders to pause or reconsider the developments coming into their communities.
In Wilmer, several city officials resigned or were fired amid a debate over the development of new facilities.
Most recently, in Collin County, the Prosper Planning and Zoning Commission unanimously voted Tuesday to deny a controversial rezoning request that would have paved the way for a $580 million data center known as Project Tomahawk.
The proposed 225,000-square-foot facility would have been built on about 37 acres near FM 1385 and Parvin Road. Commissioners cited concerns about noise, electricity consumption, environmental impacts and whether the project fits Prosper's long-term land-use plans.
The proposal, developed by Dallas-based White Rose Partners, also faced significant opposition from residents in Prosper and surrounding communities. More than 400 written comments against the project were submitted before the meeting.
The request is scheduled to go before the Prosper Town Council on Sept. 8.
— KERA Growth and Infrastructure Reporter Pablo Arauz Peña and Breaking News Reporter Emmanuel Rivas Valenzuela
Tarrant County
Black Mountain and Edged Data Centers have drawn the most controversy across the seven data centers planned for Fort Worth. That includes two facilities that would be located in the city’s extraterritorial jurisdiction.
Energy conglomerate Black Mountain has acquired and rezoned over 450 acres of land in southeast Fort Worth since early last year to build a $10 billion data center. The project hit a wall in February after City Council members tabled a vote that would have rezoned an additional 80 acres of land from agricultural to industrial use. Council members previously said they needed more information about the site’s plan and how it would impact resources and infrastructure.
The items to rezone the land were ultimately pushed down to a December meeting at Black Mountain’s request.
Edged Data Centers is planning a $1 billion facility on 186 acres of land in Veale Ranch in southwest Fort Worth. The company rescinded its application for a 50% tax break after council members in February stalled a vote that would have agreed to the exemption.
Since last year, residents have frequented Fort Worth zoning commission and city council meetings, voicing their concerns about data centers’ potential impacts on water supplies, power demands, land, natural habitats and quality of life.
Newly formed advocacy groups have also emerged as data centers continue expressing interest in the Fort Worth area. That includes the DFW Communities Over Data Centers and the 2871 Community Coalition.
Fort Worth officials have responded by presenting a draft of regulations to council members in June that would define requirements for the supercomputer hubs to meet, including those on water and wastewater, noise, business incentives and zoning and development.
When zoning and development regulations were voted down by zoning commissioners in July, city officials pivoted by voting recently for a moratorium, filing requirements and a task force, all intended for data centers. The moratorium halts construction on new data centers and would not affect projects already underway. That includes Black Mountain, a city attorney confirmed.
Also garnering attention is a planned data center in Westlake near Keller, according to a report from the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. The data center is being met with opposition from Keller Mayor Ross McMullin and City Council.
There's also a data center currently under construction in North Richland Hills and another one that's planned by Provident Data Centers at the site of an old shopping mall. Residents there have pushed back on both projects.
— Fort Worth Report's Environment Reporter Nicole Lopez
Denton County
There are only two data center projects on the map for Denton County. One AI facility is currently operated at partial capacity by Core Scientific. The other is planned by QumulusAI and is expected to be complete within the next year. Local residents have opposed both.
Core Scientific's AI data center and QumulusAI's modular data center in Denton have been considered the ideal type of data centers for water consumption. QumulusAI uses an air-cooled system that requires no water unless the air is too dry.
For its hyperscale data center, Core Scientific employs a closed-loop water cooling system that limits water consumption to between 3 million gallons and 5 million gallons for one-time usage and 60,000 gallons to 100,000 gallons annually.
Energy consumption, however, is another matter.
Core Scientific’s facility is nearing full buildout for up to 391 MW of capacity. QumulusAI has contracted for up to 20 MW of capacity upon completion of its modular data center.
City staff pointed out that data centers have so far paid more than $3.1 million in combined property taxes to Denton, Denton ISD and Denton County.
The data centers have also contributed $475,000 in sales taxes and more than $8.8 million in franchise fee revenue tied to electric use and more than $2 million in lease revenue.
In August, the Denton City Council took steps to pause future data center development for 90 days and possibly up to 180 days because of the pushback from residents.
The council will consider making changes to the development code and adding specific-use standards that require water and wastewater loading studies and closed-loop or air-cooled systems.
The first public hearing for the data center moratorium is in September.
If approved, it would will go into effect in early December.
— Denton Record-Chronicle's Christian McPhate
Hood and Somervell counties
Data center activity in rural counties south of Fort Worth has been surging in recent years. There is one crypto-mining data center facility operated by MARA holdings in southern Hood County, which has been a source of controversy for local residents.
At least seven other projects are being planned, including one near the popular Dinosaur Valley State Park in Somervell County and another within Granbury city limits.
Granbury residents are asking a Texas appeals court to revive an effort to recall the city's mayor and four council members over their handling of a proposed large-scale power generation and artificial intelligence data center campus.
Attorney Art Martinez de Vara filed a writ of mandamus with the Second Court of Appeals in Fort Worth after Granbury rejected five recall petitions in late July. The petitions target Mayor Jim Jarratt, Mayor Pro Tem Bruce Wadley and council members Greg Corrigan, Gary Overdier and Zeb Ullom. Organizers say they collected more than 5,000 signatures across the petitions, while the city said only 26 could be verified, citing incomplete addresses and concerns that the allegations did not meet legal requirements.
The recall effort stems from months of controversy surrounding Project Patriot, a proposed data center and power generation campus on roughly 2,000 acres at Knox Ranch. Residents have raised concerns about transparency, public notice and the city's annexation and rezoning of the property. They have also alleged violations of the Texas Open Meetings Act, including a possible "walking quorum," though those allegations remain part of ongoing litigation and have not been proven in court.
The recall campaign follows a separate petition signed by more than 800 residents seeking a no-confidence vote against City Manager Chris Coffman and City Attorney Jeremy SoRelle. That petition cited similar concerns about transparency and the city's handling of Project Patriot, but the council took no action.
The appeals court has established an expedited schedule, with recall elections potentially appearing on the November ballot if the petitions are found valid. Martinez de Vara argues the city improperly rejected the petitions and that determining whether the recall grounds are sufficient should be left to voters. The city maintains the petitions failed to meet the requirements of its charter and state law.
The dispute is also becoming part of the broader political debate over data center development in Granbury and Hood County, with local elections increasingly focused on transparency and how officials respond to large-scale projects.
— KERA Breaking News Reporter Emmanuel Rivas Valenzuela and Pablo Arauz Peña
This project is a collaboration between KERA News, The Denton Record-Chronicle and The Fort Worth Report.
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