Colorado City Given $10 Million From AI Data Center Companies
Three AI data center companies — Cipher Digital, Fluidstack, and Anthropic — have donated $10 million to Colorado City, Texas, to help rebuild its failed water system. This donation is part of a larger $27 million package for municipal water infrastructure improvements. The companies emphasized their commitment to the community and discussed future expansion plans in Tom Green County.
Three AI data center companies, Cipher Digital, Fluidstack, and Anthropic, announced a $10 million donation to Colorado City, Texas, to address the city's failed water system. The funds will establish the Colorado City Water Infrastructure Foundation, a 501(c)(3) organization. This private contribution is part of a larger $27 million effort to upgrade the municipal water system, which also includes a $10 million USDA grant and another $7 million grant.
Cipher Digital operates the Barber Lake high-performance computing data center in Mitchell County, with Fluidstack and Anthropic as tenants. Company executives, including Cipher CEO Tyler Page, Fluidstack's Kate Franko, and Anthropic's Ryan Wilson, presented the check alongside city and county officials. While the Barber Lake facility does not use Colorado City's water system, the donation reflects the companies' commitment to community engagement. The city's water system suffered an outage in July due to storm damage and old pipes.
The article also detailed Cipher's plans for a future 1-gigawatt data center, codenamed Colchis, in Tom Green County, near San Angelo. This project is contingent on securing grid interconnection from AEP and approval from ERCOT, with a decision expected in April 2027. Policy discussions also touched upon the sales tax treatment for data center equipment in Texas, suggesting potential adjustments to attract development while ensuring community resources.
Local officials, including Mayor Ruben Hurt and incoming Precinct 2 Commissioner Lee Roy Miller, expressed support for the data center projects as crucial for economic development and infrastructure improvement, particularly regarding the region's water security challenges.