Texas leads the nation with data centers under construction, but North Texas communities are pushing back — with moratoriums, protests and delayed votes on projects.
SOMERVELL COUNTY, Texas — Brian Crawford doesn’t need to say much to make his point. Standing on his ranch along the Somervell-Hood County line, he cuts the engine and listens.
“Nothing except birds, right?”
That quiet could soon be history. A 2,600-acre data center development called Comanche Circle is proposed just past his fence line — and Crawford says what’s at stake in the area goes beyond noise.
“It would totally change it, and irreversibly.”
His concern is part of a growing chorus across North Texas, where communities are increasingly asking how much data center growth is too much.
Texas already leads the nation in data centers under construction — 142 and counting. But that boom is now running into resistance.
In Fort Worth, a vote on a $10 billion data center development was pulled from the City Council agenda just hours before it was scheduled and pushed to next month.
In Ellis County, the Red Oak City Council cleared the way Monday for an 800-acre data center site, despite protests.
In Hill County, leaders went the other direction entirely.
According to the Texas Tribune, Hill County appears to be the first county in Texas to issue a moratorium on new data centers in unincorporated areas, citing public safety and public health concerns.
Joanne Carcamo, who cofounded a group called Protect the Paluxy Valley, calls it a historic moment.
“I mean, I’m ecstatic. It’s history.”
But she says the moratorium is just a start. Carcamo worries that projects like Comanche Circle could strain water resources that feed the Paluxy River and Dinosaur Valley State Park.
“We really are hoping that more people get involved to try to save this gem. I mean, this is irreplaceable.”
On Monday, Somervell County voted to send a resolution and letter to state leaders in Austin, asking for a pause on new data center applications.
The company behind Comanche Circle, Sailfish Investors, tells WFAA the project would bring $60 billion in private investment to Hood County and give the local school district the tax base to finally build a new junior high.