EL PASO, Texas (KFOX14/CBS4) — As more AI data centers are built in the Borderland, El Paso city leaders are moving to set guidelines for future projects amid growing concerns about impacts on local resources.

The El Paso City Council voted 5-3 during Tuesday’s meeting to direct the city manager to create a best practices guide for any future data center development proposals.

City Rep. Josh Acevedo, who represents Central and Northeast El Paso, said the effort is intended to be led by community feedback.

“As we are listening to constituents, we thought it was ideal to come up with some language for the agenda that would give us some guidance moving forward and learning from what has happened from a legal aspect,” Acevedo said.

The framework is intended to address concerns residents have raised with representatives about data centers.

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Acevedo said he has heard several concerns about the impact on utilities such as water and electricity.

“Which is why I think we need to work with El Paso County to have somebody independent come in and tell us this is what it’s gonna do to utilities in the El Paso area. This is what resources you’re gonna be giving up when you’re doing different data centers,” Acevedo said.

FULL CITY COUNCIL MEETING

Acevedo said he hopes a future City Council meeting will solidify a partnership with the county.

But during the meeting, City Rep. Art Fierro of District 6, who voted against the item, said more input is needed and urged the council to delay action.

“We can come up with the toughest policies out there, and they’ll just move outside the county limits, or city limits, and they’re still using our resources. Again, Mayor, I hate to harp on this, I just really believe we should postpone this item, wait until your agenda item is on there, and we can all have input,” Fierro said.

City Council also directed the city attorney to analyze the 380 current data center project agreements to determine what other legal action could be taken with future projects.

City Rep. Cynthia Boyar Trejo of District 4, who voted for the item, released a statement following the meeting, stating that she and Acevedo brought the item to the council as she believes there are multiple misunderstandings surrounding the industry.

Below is her full statement:

I brought this item forward with Representative Josh Acevedo to initiate a much needed and necessary open discussion on the direction of data center development in El Paso. I’ve met with members of the business community, residents, and community advocates to better understand both the opportunities and concerns surrounding this industry. It became clear that there are misunderstandings and misconceptions on multiple sides. Therefore, I felt it was important to bring this discussion to Council to have an open dialogue with all, so we can have a better understanding of this industry.

Besides Fierro, City Reps Ivan Niño from District 5 and Lily Limon from District 7 voted against the item.

RELATED: El Paso City Council set to discuss data center policy framework

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