A Trip to the Texas Ranch Where a Data Center Could Be Built: “You can never make this land the same again”
Residents and landowners in Cedar Creek, Bastrop County, are opposing a proposed data center complex intended for Anthropic and powered by Pacifico’s planned 1,326-megawatt natural gas plant. They cite concerns about emissions, noise, landscape destruction and limited local employment, while the Bastrop City Council voted to request public hearings on the plant’s permit.
A proposed $2.2 billion industrial complex in Cedar Creek would include a data center built by Black Chamber for Anthropic and a natural gas power plant developed by Pacifico. The plant’s planned capacity has increased to 1,326 megawatts, prompting concerns among residents and landowners about emissions, noise, low-frequency vibrations and the loss of ranchland and ecosystems in unincorporated Bastrop County.
The opposition group Lost Pines Watch includes residents from across the political spectrum who argue that the project offers limited employment while generating substantial environmental and quality-of-life impacts. Bastrop City Council members unanimously asked the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality to hold public hearings on Pacifico’s permit application. The article also notes temporary state pauses on some data center permits and a promised statewide moratorium, although the Pacifico project was reportedly exempt from an earlier pause.