{"id":249004,"date":"2026-04-14T10:29:07","date_gmt":"2026-04-14T10:29:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/249004\/"},"modified":"2026-04-14T10:29:07","modified_gmt":"2026-04-14T10:29:07","slug":"14b-data-center-proposed-in-south-texas-faces-scrutiny","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/249004\/","title":{"rendered":"$14B data center proposed in South Texas faces scrutiny"},"content":{"rendered":"

In drought-parched South Texas, plans for a $14 billion data center<\/a> are drawing scrutiny from residents and prompting local leaders to go on the record saying they support economic development, but not at a price that outpaces and strains precarious natural resources.<\/p>\n

Over the last week, officials in Cameron County and the city of\u00a0Harlingen have begun examining the issue after a Scottish \u201cgreen energy\u201d company, Eneus Energy, began showing interest in the Rio Grande Valley, which is currently in the midst of a massive industrial revolution thanks to companies like SpaceX<\/a> and Rio Grande LNG<\/a>, as well as proposals for a high-tech military shipyard<\/a> and an oil refinery touted by President Donald Trump<\/a>. However, Eneus\u2019 interest has spurred public backlash from locals who worry that a water- and power-hungry facility could sap resources that are already at the brink due to a years-long drought.<\/p>\n

On Tuesday, April 7, the Cameron County Commissioners Court responded to that concern by unanimously passing a resolution that aims to put guardrails on how data centers would operate in the region. But county leaders admitted that Texas law gives them limited regulatory authority.<\/p>\n

The county \u201csupports responsible economic development; however, the court formally expresses opposition to the use of open-loop evaporative cooling systems or other high-volume potable water consumption technologies in large scale,\u201d Cameron County Judge Eddie\u00a0Trevino Jr. said, reading from the resolution.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe court further opposes any data center development that fails to incorporate adequate safeguards to protect our county\u2019s natural resources,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The resolution also calls for \u201cfull and transparent public reporting\u201d of electricity and water usage and impacts to public infrastructure, local agriculture and habitat. And it urges lawmakers to pass legislation giving local governments more \u201cmeaningful\u201d participation in such developments<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Eneus is looking to build the so-called \u201cRGV Data Center\u201d in phases on a 1,785-acre site of farmland east of Valley International Airport, just outside city limits. The facility would generate 2 gigawatts of power capacity across \u201c16 typically sized data halls,\u201d according to the company\u2019s website<\/a>. Eneus says the project means more than $14 billion in investment that would generate more than $9 billion in economic impact and more than 1,000 jobs through 2045. Some 360 of those jobs would be at the data center itself.<\/p>\n

The company also plans to reduce environmental impacts by relying on a \u201cclosed-cycle cooling system\u201d using \u201clocally sourced reclaimed wastewater\u201d rather than potable water and “advancing a flexible power strategy\u201d that would minimize strain on the local power grid.<\/p>\n

Like Cameron County leaders, Harlingen officials<\/a> say they also have little control over regulating the proposal due to the site\u2019s location outside the city limits. Nonetheless, last week, the Harlingen City Commission began the process to consider a citywide moratorium on data centers \u2014 a process that requires a specific legal process.<\/p>\n

\u201cRest assured that your city commission is working hard making sure that the steps that we take moving forward are responsible steps,\u201d Mayor Norma\u00a0Sepulveda said.<\/p>\n

\u201cCity governments cannot just say we\u2019re\u00a0gonna have a moratorium on data centers without those public hearings. \u2026 If we could get to that goal sooner, then we would. But we have to abide by the law,\u201d she added.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In drought-parched South Texas, plans for a $14 billion data center are drawing scrutiny from residents and prompting…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":249005,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[821,2320,820,27,29,28],"class_list":{"0":"post-249004","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-texas","8":"tag-mysabusiness","9":"tag-mysasotx","10":"tag-mysastaff","11":"tag-texas","12":"tag-texas-headlines","13":"tag-texas-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/249004","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=249004"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/249004\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/249005"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=249004"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=249004"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=249004"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}