Data Centers

Two Lubbock businessmen were found guilty by a jury in federal court yesterday in a more than $60 million investment scheme that affected over 500 investors. Ferrum Capital's Joshua Allen and Michael Cox face up to 70 years in prison, with sentencing scheduled for December 10. The discussion on data centers from Lubbock’s city council will take a step further now that a citizen petition submitted earlier this month has been confirmed. Our Samantha Larned reports the city council’s meeting next Tuesday will not include a decision on the moratorium itself, but the council is expected to schedule a public hearing before voting on the moratorium.

The state's power grid operator had already planned on auditing several data center proposals, but Abbott's directive reworks the timeline and adds new requirements.

Granbury residents are asking a Fort Worth appeals court to order recall elections after the city rejected petitions targeting the mayor and four council members over the Project Patriot data center.

Abilene was sold on promises that data centers would transform their local economy. But some residents are wondering when the benefits will come.

Yesterday, Lubbock County commissioners approved a broad resolution requiring large-scale industrial developers to answer questions from the county about things like water, electricity, noise and light pollution. Under Texas law, counties do not have the authority to approve or deny industrial developments in unincorporated areas. This brought pushback from some commissioners, who argued the resolution is “unenforceable.”

As more and more data center developers submit proposals to build in Texas, questions about how they will impact Texas' grid and contribute to drought conditions across the state are widespread.

New data centers won't be able to join the Texas power grid until state regulators complete a review of their energy and water usage, under a new directive from the governor.

In a city council meeting this week, recent fears of data center development met with generational frustrations over industrial zoning in north and east Lubbock, leading to threats of recalls for city leaders in a meeting where many who spoke out felt ignored.

Data centers are no longer an emerging industry. Driven by cloud computing, crypto mining and artificial intelligence, they are spreading rapidly across Texas, and the projected cost of the tax break has climbed into the billions. On Monday, the state senate finance committee asked if it was time to end the sales tax break for data centers.

The citizen’s group Save Lubbock says it has enough signatures to put the call for a data center moratorium before the city council. The petition will now go to the city secretary’s office to verify signatures. Meanwhile, at the state capitol this week, The Texas Newsroom's Blaise Gainey reports Texas lawmakers began looking at a long-standing tax break for data centers. The Texas Comptroller's Office projects the tax break could total $3.3 billion in 2028 & 2029.