LUBBOCK, Texas (KCBD) – The Lubbock City Council has accepted the verified petition for a temporary halt on certain data centers in Lubbock.
The city council’s action was a formality after numerous citizen comments.
The city secretary found there were enough valid signatures on a citizen-led effort to enact an ordinance.
Petition seeks moratorium
The petition asks for an 18-month moratorium on “high water use and high energy use data centers” inside the city limits. A public hearing is required before the council votes for or against the ordinance.
Councilman Tim Collins said the moratorium would be against state law because of its 18-month length. He said he has other similar proposals that would be lawful, and indicated support from the city council on that effort, but not in its current form.
“For the most part I’m on your side,” Collins said. “I think for the most part this group is going to be on your side. We want to protect our city but we have to do it in a way that actually works that we can enforce. We will be coming back with that, or at least I’ll be coming back with that.”
Mayor Mark McBrayer addressed the petition
“We can take action within the law and we will discuss that as things move forward,” Mayor McBrayer said. “We will be voting on ordinances that will restrict them. We can do that at the same time we consider whether or not we want to have moratoriums for certain periods of time that are allowed under the law.”
Hearing set for September 8
A public hearing on the petition is set for September 8 at 2 p.m. in the council chambers.
The city council will have 30 days to adopt or reject the moratorium outlined in the petition.
If rejected, the deadline has already passed to put the issue on the November ballot, so it would be on a ballot next May if the petitioning group calls for an election.
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