Critical Texas Data Center Fights Happening Right Now

Residents from various parts of Texas gathered in San Antonio for the "Texas Data Center Rebellion," a two-day convening aimed at organizing statewide opposition to the rapid proliferation of data centers. Attendees expressed deep concerns about the intensive water and power demands of these facilities, as well as the broader societal implications of artificial intelligence, including potential job displacement and surveillance. Community organizer DeeDee Belmares of Public Citizen emphasized the goal of influencing future rulemaking at the Texas Legislature. The discussions highlighted specific projects and ongoing local struggles. In El Paso, Meta Platforms is developing a $10 billion AI data center projected to consume up to 1.5 million gallons of water daily, while 'Project Jupiter,' a partnership between Oracle and OpenAI, is planned for rural New Mexico near El Paso, with advanced cooling systems. El Paso's Fort Bliss also announced a new hyper-scale data center, prompting Mayor Renard Johnson to request environmental reviews. Elsewhere, Blueprint Data Centers is pursuing a 60MW facility in Taylor near a Samsung chip factory, facing challenges over deed restrictions. In the same city, the 360MW KDC Project Comal recently received local Council approval. San Antonio, already home to an estimated 66 data centers (including 22 operated by Microsoft), is seeing its city-owned utilities, CPS Energy and San Antonio Water System, prepare for further growth. San Antonio Councilmember Ric Galvan is leading efforts to update the city's Unified Development Code to create a dedicated 'data center' category, acknowledging existing regulations may be too permissive. In Amarillo, 'Project Matador,' a partnership between Fermi America and the Texas Tech University System, seeks to build a massive 11 GW hyperscale data center campus spanning 6,000 acres, powered by gas-fired plants and nuclear reactors. This project faces class-action lawsuits and is criticized for its projected annual water demand of 900 million gallons, which could further deplete a rapidly diminishing aquifer.