San Angelo City Council Adopts Water Use Regulations for Data Centers
The San Angelo City Council unanimously adopted new water use regulations for data centers, requiring closed-loop cooling systems and limiting initial water fill. This decision follows strong public opposition and recall efforts against council members. The city will now enter negotiations with Skybox Datacenters and Emergent Data Centers for a proposed campus.
The San Angelo City Council unanimously voted to adopt new water use regulations for data centers, reversing a previous deadlocked vote. The new ordinance, which is Section 11.02.043 of the city code, mandates that data centers use closed-loop cooling systems and limits initial water fill to 8 gallons per square foot of gross building area. It also requires separate metering for cooling water usage and reporting of any exceedances.
The decision was made during a public meeting where residents voiced strong opposition to data center development in the city. This opposition includes recall affidavits filed by the San Angelo Data Center Citizen Coalition against several council members. The adopted regulations align with recommendations from Governor Greg Abbott aimed at protecting Texas residents from higher taxes linked to data center development, and the city has already integrated these guidelines into its zoning standards.
Following the vote, the council is set to begin negotiations with Skybox Datacenters and Emergent Data Centers for a proposed data center campus in northeastern San Angelo on city-owned land.