Denton City Council takes first step toward a possible moratorium on AI data centers
The Denton City Council has initiated discussions for a potential temporary moratorium on AI data centers, directing city staff to gather information on their impact. This move comes amid growing community concerns regarding projected infrastructure demand, environmental impact, and energy/water consumption of these facilities. The council aims to evaluate if existing data centers align with projections and to establish a future policy for data center applications.
The Denton City Council has unanimously voted to explore a temporary moratorium on AI data centers, directing city staff to prepare for a work session on the matter. Council member Nick Stevens proposed the discussion to better understand the impact of data centers on the Denton community, citing artificial intelligence data centers as a "big topic of concern for a lot of people." The city plans to research a temporary halt on future applications to evaluate whether the infrastructure demand, environmental impact, and financial returns of Denton's two existing AI data centers, operated by Core Scientific and QumulusAI, align with initial projections.
This initiative by the Denton City Council reflects a broader trend in Texas where residents are actively opposing data center proliferation due to concerns over increased energy and water consumption and quality-of-life issues. Stevens specifically highlighted Core Scientific's pivot from crypto mining to AI data mining, which necessitated a modified power-purchase agreement from the city and a significant increase in power access from 300 megawatts to 394 megawatts for its hyperscale center. QumulusAI's planned modular data center is expected to use 20 megawatts. These figures are substantial, with Core Scientific's expanded operations potentially powering between 236,000 and 394,000 homes in a city of 150,000 residents.
The council also heard that Denton Municipal Electric (DME) is exploring options to purchase an existing natural gas facility to meet energy demands, a scenario Stevens had previously warned about. While council members Jill Jester and Mayor Pro Tem Suzi Rumohr noted no new data centers are currently in the queue due to Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) throttling requests, District 1 council member Jordan Villarreal mentioned community discussions about a citizen-initiated referendum for a full ban. Stevens, however, advocated for developing a city policy rather than a citizen initiative, emphasizing the need for the city to have a clear stance on energy increases from any industry. He stated that if residents do not want such developments, "the conversation ends right there."