Fort Worth City Council has delayed a vote on a proposed tax abatement for a $1.1 billion data center planned for southwest Tarrant County, after residents voiced concerns Tuesday about transparency, noise levels and water usage.
This is the second time this month Fort Worth residents have raised concerns over a proposed data center, the previous being a $10 billion project proposed for Forest Hill Drive and Lon Stephenson Road.
Edged Data Centers plans to build the facility near the intersection of Interstate 20 and Farm-to-Market Road 2871, part of a 5400-acre development with Veale Ranch, according to Fort Worth City Councilman Michael Crain. Construction equipment is already visible at the site, which was rezoned by the city last year.
Fort Worth’s economic development department proposed a 10-year tax abatement for Edged.
Councilman Michael Crain, in whose district the project falls, said he is pushing back the vote to give the council more time to discuss the project and the concerns residents raised. He said he plans to bring the matter back before the council in the coming months.
More than a dozen residents, some carrying signs, attended Tuesday’s council meeting to speak against the abatement.
“I want to say no to tax abatement, no to data center,” one resident said during public comment.
Others called for the city to establish formal oversight mechanisms for data centers.
“We are asking you to commit to establishing an ongoing inspection and compliance function for data centers in Fort Worth,” another resident said.
Among those in attendance was Krista Erbe, who lives near the construction site.
“In my backyard I can see this project,” Erbe said. “Until about two weeks ago, I had no idea what it was going to be.”
Erbe said she began organizing after learning the site had already been rezoned — a process she said happened without her knowledge.
“I am not anti-data center, but I do believe we don’t have the data to know how we can safely move forward,” she said.
Despite the community pushback, Crain said he has no concerns about the project itself.
“I don’t have any concerns about this data center,” he said, noting that Edged was founded on principles of energy sustainability.
A spokesperson for Edged Data Centers said the facility uses minimal water through a closed-loop cooling system and that the company plans to build an Oncor electrical substation as part of the project.
“When Edged comes to a community, we are here for the long term,” the spokesperson said. “We are owner-operators. We want to be good stewards to the community.”
Councilman Michael Crain said he is also requesting an information report on data center development.
“I’ve asked the city manager directly to look at the rules in place, what we have now, what zoning looks like and make recommendations with city staff, the experts on what we can do here in Fort Worth to ensure that we’re protecting quality of life at the same time advancing economic growth,” Crain said.
There is no hard timeline for that report, something Erbe would like to see.
“I do believe the start of what we need to have done to get these other measures in place. But it doesn’t do any good if we ask for a report and it just sits there,” said Erbe.
No new vote date has been announced.