LUBBOCK, Texas (KCBD) – A citizen group is seeking an 18-month moratorium on data center development in Lubbock, as debate over the facilities intensifies at both the local and state level.
The group, Citizens of Lubbock Against Data Centers, must collect and verify enough petition signatures by July 28 for the moratorium to advance. If the Lubbock City Council votes against it, the measure would appear on the November ballot.
Mayor opposes moratorium, cites ongoing city work
Mayor Mark McBrayer said the city has already been working to address concerns raised by moratorium supporters, including sound studies, extra easements, and special permit options inside city limits. The city council is not currently considering any data center projects within city limits.
“I don’t know that I or the council would be in favor of the moratorium because as I said, a lot of what they want to happen during that moratorium, we’ve already been doing,” McBrayer said. “If we go for a moratorium, we just stop doing what we’re doing, and I think what we are trying to do at the moment to address the issue is good and positive, and I think most people would want us to be doing.”
State officials call for legislative action
Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller attended a protest in Lubbock and called on Gov. Greg Abbott to convene a special legislative session to address data center expansion statewide. Miller said waiting until the regular legislative session in January could be too late.
“We could deal with them, have the legislation up in the books in six weeks, and we could all get around this,” Miller said. “I’m not saying that we’re all against data centers, but we need to know that they’re not gonna drive up our electric rates and use all of our water and take away our good farmland.”
According to a study by the Texas Tribune, at least 248 data center projects are planned across the state. Recent reports also indicate ERCOT could begin approving the next major wave of data center projects as early as next spring.
Abbott outlines regulatory framework
During a campaign stop earlier this month, Abbott called for blocking new data center development in rural parts of the state. He also unveiled a regulatory framework that would require data centers to add new power generation to the grid, pay for their own infrastructure costs, and reuse their own water.
Experts and industry representatives have cited Texas’s business-friendly environment and regulatory structure as factors driving data center growth in the state.
“We have to be respectful of rural Texas, and its heritage, and they wanna be left alone, and they don’t wanna have some AI data center in their backyard,” Abbott said in an April interview. “And so what we, as a state and state leaders are doing right now, we’re listening to the concerns, especially those in rural Texas, and we’re working on solutions to make sure those concerns are addressed.”
Even without a special session, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick has directed state senate committees to begin assessing the adequacy of current regulatory and infrastructure frameworks for data centers ahead of the January legislative session.
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