County commissioner says Granbury officials mislead public about data center

Hood County Commissioner Nannette Samuelson has publicly accused Granbury city manager Chris Coffman and other city officials of deception regarding a power plant project, initially known as Project Horizon and now Project Patriot, intended for a future data center campus. The controversy centers on over 2,000 acres annexed by the city in January. During a commissioners court meeting, Samuelson presented documents from Granbury's economic development department, dated June 2025, detailing the power plant project by Dallas-based Bilateral Energy LLC, which later received a permit from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. She highlighted that these documents described the project as "powering the future of Granbury, a data center campus and power generation development." Samuelson's accusations stem from an April 7 City Council meeting where the council voted to rezone the 2,000 acres for industrial development, including power plants and data centers. During that meeting, City Manager Coffman and Mayor Jim Jarratt reportedly denied prior knowledge of Bilateral Energy's plans before the annexation. Samuelson contends that officials knew about the proposal as early as June 2025, and that Project Patriot was discussed in various meetings before the January 6 annexation vote, contradicting officials' statements. The city manager, mayor, and council members are currently named in an April 6 lawsuit filed by residents. This lawsuit mirrors Samuelson's allegations, claiming that Granbury "willfully evaded" public records requests and that officials violated quorum requirements by touring a Dallas data center in January. The suit seeks a permanent injunction and a temporary restraining order against the city of Granbury, as well as the reversal of the annexation.