Fort Stockton has long been known as a destination in West Texas. The gateway to Balmorhea and the seat of Pecos County, the Trans-Pecos region is also one of the last places to stop before driving hundreds of miles to El Paso and into New Mexico. Now, it’s poised to become the latest Texas community transformed by the state’s rapidly expanding data center boom.
Three TDLR filings for a Pecos County Data Center were registered on Tuesday, August 4, calling for three 189,000-square-foot buildings for Amazon Data Services. Each building carries a $300 million price tag and is scheduled to begin construction on August 1, wrapping up on December 1. Those timelines are subject to change without notice.
However, it’s unclear whether this data center is connected to the previously announced AI-driven Project Horizon or is an entirely new development. Project Horizon covers 559 acres and claims to address concerns over water consumption by being in an isolated area away from urban settings and using a closed-loop water system to avoid putting any strain on Fort Stockton’s municipal water supply, according to Forbes.
“Public resistance to data centers in other areas like Ohio and Pennsylvania is real and it’s understandable,” Robert Bonar, CEO of San Francisco based Poolside Infrastructure Company, said to Forbes. “Residents of those areas are being impacted, whether it be water usage, power rates, land prices and everything else. Looking at that, we believe there’s a better solution here.”
Despite addressing the water concerns, billions of dollars have been invested in data centers across Texas in a very short time. Abbott may have slowed their approval process, but facilities like Pecos County appear to be a hot topic for years to come.
MySA has reached out to Amazon for comment on the data centers.