Hut 8 says its latest Beacon Point lease won’t increase the campus’ water or power demands as Corpus Christi begins considering new data center regulations.
CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Hut 8 says its latest long-term lease at the Beacon Point AI data center campus in Nueces County does not mean the project is getting bigger. Instead, company leaders say it represents the final major customer commitment the campus was designed to accommodate.
The company announced this week that it signed a second 15-year lease with an unnamed investment-grade customer, adding another 352 megawatts of contracted IT capacity.
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“This new 15-year lease adds another 352 megawatts of contracted IT capacity, so that doubles our existing customer’s commitment to 704 megawatts of the total one gigawatt campus,” Hut 8 Senior Director of Public Affairs Hailey Miller said. “The remaining megawatts not listed in that 704 number are items that go towards generators, other additional equipment on site that keeps the data center up and running.”
Miller compared the announcement to an apartment complex leasing its remaining units before construction is complete.
She said the additional lease will not change the project’s previously announced infrastructure commitments.
The company also expects construction activity to expand because of the second lease. According to Miller, Beacon Point is now projected to support approximately 1,900 construction jobs across the broader development and more than 200 permanent positions.
The announcement came one day before the Corpus Christi City Council voted to begin developing stricter regulations for future data centers.
Council members directed city staff to begin drafting recommendations addressing issues such as land use, setbacks, water, power and infrastructure.
Those potential regulations would not apply retroactively to Beacon Point.
“We don’t have the authority, under the current existing zoning, to say, ‘You can’t be in this particular location,'” District 5 Councilman Gil Hernandez said.
Even so, Miller believes Beacon Point already aligns with the concerns council members identified.
“Based on the issues that they identified publicly, the land use setbacks, water, power, infrastructure, development commitments, I believe Beacon Point is well positioned to meet the underlying objectives and the standards that they’re hoping to achieve,” she said.
Miller added that Hut 8 supports “thoughtful, fact-based standards” that provide communities with protections while also giving developers clear and predictable expectations.
Miller said she understands why residents have raised questions about water use, electricity demand, noise and infrastructure as AI data centers continue expanding across Texas.
“Folks are asking very reasonable questions about water, electricity, noise, infrastructure, and our responsibility as a company is to address those questions with specific facts rather than asking anyone to support a generic idea of a data center,” Miller said. “Community trust is not created by saying, ‘Trust us.’ It’s created by answering questions, making clear commitments and then delivering on them.”
She called the second lease “a major vote of confidence” in both Beacon Point and the Coastal Bend, saying it confirms the campus has “a committed, long-term customer and a clear path forward.”
City staff has not yet presented formal recommendations for future data center regulations to the Corpus Christi City Council.
Beacon Point remains on track to become fully operational by the spring of 2028.
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Water concerns become a political issue
As AI data centers continue expanding across Texas, questions about water use are also becoming part of the state’s political debate.
Texas gubernatorial candidate Gina Hinojosa said she has heard concerns from residents in both the Coastal Bend and the Amarillo area, where several large data center projects are also planned or under construction.
“The water is contracted to industry first. If there is a shortage, it will be residents who will be cut off. It will be citizens who are cut off. That is unacceptable. That should be illegal,” Hinojosa said.
She argued that while water is important for economic development, residents should remain the state’s top priority.
“Water is important to industry, yes, but it is first and foremost essential for life,” she said.
Hut 8 has repeatedly said Beacon Point’s expected water demand has not changed following the company’s second lease announcement and that the project’s previously announced water commitments remain the same.