Austin’s mayor says he also hopes to freeze granting new applications before the city can adopt new rules.
AUSTIN, Texas — Austin City Council is considering new rules for large-scale data centers, including the possibility of banning them within city limits.
Council members discussed the issue Tuesday, focusing on concerns about water and power use, noise, light pollution and zoning.
No large-scale data centers currently exist within Austin city limits, but city leaders say they want to establish rules before future projects are proposed.
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Council considers new data center rules
Austin’s land development code has not undergone a large-scale overhaul in 42 years, although smaller updates have been made in recent years.
Council Member Marc Duchen said one of the biggest challenges will be determining where the city draws the line.
“We’re trying to do it in a very thoughtful, appropriate, legal way,” Mayor Kirk Watson said.
Several council members are pushing for a full ban on large-scale data centers.
Council Member Mike Siegel said he is comfortable with smaller data centers already operating at places such as universities, hospitals and banks.
“I don’t think we need to allow much bigger than that,” Siegel said, referring to facilities using more than roughly 20 megawatts of electricity.
Advocates raise concerns about water
Bobby Levinski, a member of the Data Center Action Coalition, met with KVUE at City Hall while wearing a shirt reading “No AI Data Centers.”
“We need every single drop of water we have for our expected population growth,” said Levinski, who is also Senior Staff Attorney at Save Our Springs Alliance.
His coalition is fighting data center development across Central Texas.
Levinski said he is glad Austin is taking steps to address the issue, saying the city was “a little slow to the game.”
Data center industry pushes back
Across the street from City Hall, ACL Live hosted the annual Data Center Anti Conference, an event for industry professionals.
Kirk Offel, the event’s Austin-based co-founder, along with co-founder and CEO of Overwatch Mission Critical, said advances in technology have changed how many new data centers operate.
Offel said some large data centers can generate their own power rather than relying on the ERCOT grid. He also said newer facilities can use closed-loop water systems that dramatically reduce water consumption.
He compared the technology to a car radiator, where water can remain in the system rather than continually being added.
“Every concern is valid,” Offel said. “We just want to have the opportunity to explain how far innovation of technology has driven us to where we no longer need to use water, and we no longer need to go to ERCOT.”
Offel also said data centers can be built behind the meter and designed in ways he believes could be more beneficial to the power grid.
He pointed to recent data center directives from Gov. Greg Abbott as another development he believes could help limit impacts on water supplies and the power grid.
What’s next?
Austin City Council could vote Thursday to direct the city manager to return with an ordinance establishing new rules for data centers.
City leaders expect the proposed ordinance to come back to council by spring 2027.
Watson also wants to add to Thursday’s resolution a directive for staff to temporarily freeze the granting of data center applications before the city adopts tougher regulations.
“So that what we don’t do is create a situation where somebody tries to get in while we’re trying to pass thoughtful amendments to our code,” Watson said. “We need to have those provisions in place before we’re looking at what might be coming our way.”